Production has started at Timken's Tyger River plant in Union County on massive bearings for use in wind turbines for China's Goldwind Science and Technology Company, the fifth largest wind power maker in the world, as part of a $26 million contract.
Under the terms of the contract Timken provides engineering, advanced bearings, and condition monitoring equipment for Goldwind, said Lorrie Paul Crum, spokeswoman for Timken, a Ohio-based company that has operations in 27 countries and $3.1 billion in sales in 2009.
Timken began making ultra-large bearings for wind turbines in Xiangtan, China and later retooled and expanded its U.S. facilities in Asheboro, N.C., and Union. The company already has plants making the wind turbine bearings in Wuxi, China; Chennai, India; and Ploiesti, Romania. The company also provides steel from its facilities in Canton, Ohio, for its own production and wind-energy components for other customers.
Company officials said Goldwind got new wind power orders in 2009 on equipment to produce 2,722 megawatts. That��s about 20 % of all wind generation added in China last year. Timken will support 1,500 megawatts of that new capacity, some of that new work going through the Union plant. UltraWind tapered roller bearings and condition-monitoring systems and services are used in Goldwind's current 1.5-megawatt and 2.5-megawatt platforms, company officials said.
Timken last week reported sales of $1.0 billion in the second quarter of 2010, an increase of 37 % over the same period a year ago. The Bearings and Power Transmission Group had second-quarter sales of $694.7 million, up 14 % from $608.4 million for the same period last year. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the second quarter were $104.6 million, up 150 % from $41.8 million in the second quarter of 2009.
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