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6 April 2006 - The owner of Enercon has started legal proceedings against wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, alleging the Danish company has infringed patent rights in England and Scotland.
According to Vestas, Mr Aloys Wobben, has followed up allegations that were first reported in November 2005 by issuing a writ against Vestas-Celtic Wind Technology, a direct subsidiary of the Vestas Group. The writ claims Vestas has infringed patent rights for electricity grid codes.
Vestas responded to the claim by stating Wobben was adopting a strategy to hamper competition. A statement issued by the company read: "It is the opinion of Vestas Wind Systems A/S that Aloys Wobben is trying to monopolise the connection of wind turbines to the grid by applying a patent strategy which aims at obtaining an exclusive right to the actual electricity grid codes."
Vestas expects a long legal battle having denied it had infringed any patent rights. The company stated that its innocence had been confirmed by an evaluation made by independent patent experts.
The news came as the Danish turbine manufacturer announced plans to double the production capacity at its new factory in Tianjin, China, before it had even produced its first blade.
The factory is expected to be ready for production this May and an extension to double the annual production of 600 blades to 1200 blades will be completed by mid-2007.
Ole Borup Jakobsen, president of Vestas Blades A/S, said: "The establishment of the factory in China is progressing according to the schedule, and the first 39 metre blades for the V80 2MW wind turbine are expected to be produced in May this year. We are therefore very pleased to note that satisfactory order coverage as well as continuous good market prospects for China as well as for the rest of Asia mean that the decision to extend the factory has already been taken now."
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