This story was first published on 15 March, 2018, when the joint venture was first announced. It was updated on 13 September, 2018, when the agreement was formalised.
The joint venture (JV) will initially produce steel towers for Rusnano's partnership with Finnish developer Fortum, which has won just over 1.8GW of capacity in tenders in June 2017 and June 2018.
It will eventually expand production so that it annually manufactures towers for turbines with a combined capacity of 300MW within two years, the new JV announced.
The towers will be up to 120 metres in height and weigh up to 270 tonnes. Windar will be responsible for delivering the technology needed to build the turbines, while Russian firm Severstal will have the opportunity to supply the steel plate necessary for production "on competitive terms", the JV stated.
An initial investment of RUB 750 million (US$ 10.8 million) will be made to launch the venture, the partners added. Tower and foundations manufacturer Windar Renovables will hold a majority 51% stake in the JV, while Rusnano and Severstal will each take a 24.5% share.
Alisher Kalanov, head of Rusnano's department of perspective projects in the fuel and energy unit, said in Match that Rusnano would invest around RUB 1 billion by 2024 in the project. A further RUB 2 billion will be provided by Windar Renovables.
The JV will provide towers for projects to be built by Fortum and Rusnano. The Finnish company and its Russian counterpart have already named OEM Vestas as a preferred supplier for the first 1GW tranche. Windar is a global partner of the Danish manufacturer, it stated.
This is the latest in a series of large-scale wind-power contracts signed in Russia, as the country's wind production facilities take shape.
In November 2017, Dutch turbine manufacturer Lagerwey, since taken over by Enercon, entered a joint venture with Rusnano to set up turbine production factory in the country, as part of a licensing agreement with the Russian firm.
In February, Rusnano signed a contract with Vestas' Russian subsidiary to establish a blade production facility in the Ulyanovsk region, south-west Russia. It aims to produce 300 blades a year there. The volume of investments is set to be RUB 1.4 billion.
More recently, Vestas started producing nacelles at its factory in Nizhny Novgorod, and Siemens Gamesa signed an agreement with Siemens Gas Turbine Technologies to assemble nacelles in the outskirts of St Petersburg.
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