The Sinovel contract was a bonanza for AMSC and largely accounts for AMSC's long-anticipated first profitable quarter set to be announced at the end of April '09.
China shows no signs of letting up on it's Wind Energy expansion. State-mandated and State Owned Enterprises (like Sinovel) are nothing like Western-style business initiatives. China is still (lest we forget) a country with a STRONGLY centralized government. I've been to China. I've seen with my own eyes some of these state-mandated projects. The scale of these projects is breathtaking and is incomprehensible to American business people where national policy is always subjected to a myriad of political considerations and multiple business interests. T. Boone Picken's plan is nothing compared to the current Chinese roll-out of renewable energy capabilities.
When the Central government decides something is a priority -- they will literally move mountains -- and they have the population to do it. I was in China before their big Industrial push ... to see it today simply blows my mind.
Don't understimate their commitment to energy independence -- they know that there's simply not enough petroleum to last this century and they know it's a matter of national security that they develop alternative energy sources. The Chinese (unlike their Western counterparts) DO THINK long-term and they're preparing their economy today for conditions decades from now.
The Sinovel contract is very real and is likely to continue to be a nice income stream for several years at least.
The newly announced HHI contract, is yet another significant contract for AMSC Windtec. Sinovel brought AMSC to the brink and HHI is likely push them well over.
And AMSC's wind energy business is only the first of three waves of business growth.
Energy Grids the world-over need to be significantly upgraded. Already AMSC has several products which are positioned to play a role in these "smarter" grids. The growth opportunities for AMSC's Static Compensators (D-Var), and HTSC Fault Limiters are substantial.
And finally, there is the Superconductor business. This opportunity dwarfs the other two by comparison. And although the outcomes for this business are far less certain -- this is the opportunity that may launch AMSC into the "big-times". Applications include HTSC motors, generators and turbines (including the world's first HTSC 10Mw wind turbine -- coming soon). And now more than ever, it appears that AMSC has put together the right business plan to get them there ...
