Nordex and TPI in Mexican hat dance for blade fabrication as OEM rejigs globally
Strategic partnership to boost manufacturing at Matamoros factory for US orders while 'increasing flexibility of key component supply chain' via other international facilities
German wind OEM Nordex will hand over operations its fabrication hall in Matamoros, Mexico, for three years to US blade-maker TPI Composites, as part of a strategic partnership that will also encompass collaboration on component manufacturing in the Turkish and Indian markets.
The partners aim to “further increase” the efficiency and output of the facility, which mainly serves US projects, by leveraging TPI’s expertise in rotor blade process technology.
The transaction, said Nordex CEO José Luis Blanco, “marks another milestone of [our] growth path” via a strengthening of the turbine maker’s global manufacturing footprint and “increasing the flexibility of its key component supply chain”.
“This partnership allows us to safeguard our profitable growth in the coming years and to capture further market opportunities by securing fast deliveries and high delivery reliability for our US customers in particular. This enables us to focus our resources on our other worldwide strategic ramp-up activities,” said Blanco.
Through the tie-up, TPI will take over running the Matamoros fabrication halls and its 1,500 employees, which produce two different rotor blade designs, exclusively for Nordex, with plans foreseeing ‘return’ of the fully operational facility to the German company in 2024.
TPI CEO Bill Siwek said: “We are pleased that Nordex has chosen to expand the relationship with TPI by trusting us with their blade production in Mexico. It has been a strong global relationship since 2013.”
Nordex has been purchasing its rotor blades from TPI in Turkey and China for almost a decade and started collaborating with the US blade maker in India in 2021.