| COMPANY
PROFILE
Westwind's
manufacture of wind turbines dates back to 1984 when they designed,
manufactured and installed a grid connect, induction generator, 60kW
wind turbine for the State Energy Commission of Western Australia.
Subsequently they supplied a further eight 60kW wind
turbines and three 30kW wind turbines to government or semi
government customers.
Westwind turbines were the chosen turbines for Australia's
first wind farm in Esparence Western Australia.
In subsequent years the market for grid connected wind turbines
in Australia continued to be very uncertain and intermittent. Thus
the focus was shifted to smaller machines specifically designed for
installation in remote areas where reliability and minimal
maintenance are the prime requirements.
Wind turbines rated at 2.5kW, 5kW and 10kW are currently
produced. A 20kW is in the final stages of prototyping and is
expected to be available commercially in mid 2001. |
A
60kW WESTWIND TURBINE
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Westwind wind turbines have been sold and
installed all over the world in countries including India, China,
Vietnam, Germany, Fiji and Japan.
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A
WESTWIND 10kW (Pia Wadjari W.A.)
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Westwind
shares premises with Venco
Products in Perth but has its own factory on site. A nearby test
site is used to monitor and test any new developments from the
continuing Research and development program.
Geoff Hill, the Managing Director is a
professional engineer who prior to setting up Venco Products, was a
senior executive in the Automotive industry.
Westwind was one of the founding members of
the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE).
This Cooperative Research Centre has been set up to facilitate
cooperation between five Universities, CSIRO (the Federal
Government’s Research Organisation) and Industry. It includes
three electrical utilities. A 20kW wind turbine and several new Mk2
wind turbine generators are currently being developed in partnership
with ACRE |
