Corpus Christi Caller-Times
By Fanny S. Chirinos
CORPUS CHRISTI – Spanish-based Gamesa Corp. will be the seventh wind turbine manufacturer to ship its products to the U.S. via the Port of Corpus Christi. The first vessel is expected mid-August.
About 100 wind towers, or 400 sections, will arrive here on about four ships. The components will be shipped to the Midwest and possibly later to wind project in Mexico, said Michael Perez, the port¹s business development director.
“We’ve been talking to Gamesa for a while and came to terms about a month ago,” Perez said. “We want to diversify our cargo and client base and this fits with our goals. We hope it¹s a long-standing partnership.”
Attempts on Tuesday to contact Gamesa officials were not successful. According to its Web site, the company was ranked third in the world in wind turbine production and had 14 percent of the world¹s market share.
The port began receiving wind turbine parts in 2006 from Siemens Power Generation Inc. Since then, the port has picked up Vestas Group, General Electric, Clipper Windpower, CS Wind Corp. and Dongkuk S&C.
Perez said the port has increased its holding areas from about 40 acres in 2006 to about 100 acres.
“We ourselves are ranked pretty high in the nation in bringing in wind turbine components and we want to keep it that way,” Perez said.
