Clipper Windpower is a

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

manufacturing company founded in 2001 by James G.P. Dehlsen."Clipper Chairman inducted into Environmental Hall of Fame"
''North American Windpower'', 12 December 2008, Retrieved: 23 October 2010. It designed one of the largest wind turbines in the United States, manufactured in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. It was working collaboratively with the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research an ...

. Affected by a global recession, in December 2010 Clipper Windpower was acquired by

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...

. It was sold in 2012 to

Platinum Equity Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. History Platinum Equity was founded in 199 ...

. The company has reduced its manufacturing and is supporting its turbines.
''The Gazette,'' 3 November 2012

History

In September 2007 Clipper Windpower, based in

Carpinteria, California Carpinteria (; es, Carpintería, meaning "Carpentry") is a small seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, it had a population of 13,264 at the 2020 census. Carpinteria is a p ...

, received an Outstanding Research and Development Partnership Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the design and development of its 2.5 MW Liberty Wind Turbine, one of the largest wind turbines manufactured in the U.S. at the time. The turbine was developed under a partnership with DOE and its

(NREL). It was manufactured in

. Commercial sales started in June 2006 for the new Liberty turbine and (mostly contingent) orders for more than 5,600 MW (2,240 units) for deliveries in 2007 through 2011 were booked. Clipper Windpower had an agreement with BP Energy to supply the 2.5 MW turbines for the proposed 5,050 MW Titan Wind Project in South Dakota. Among the projects completed with Clipper wind turbines is

Steel Winds Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

Lackawanna, New York Lackawanna is a city in Erie County, New York, United States, just south of the city of Buffalo in western New York State. The population was 19,949 at the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in New York, growing in populati ...

, south of Buffalo, where an urban wind farm was developed on part of a

brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land pre ...

. Clipper’s wind turbine technology suffered from frequent gearbox failures and cracked blades. This resulted in numerous warranty claims and lawsuits which significantly eroded Clipper’s balance sheet and ability to secure financing. As such, Clipper’s wind turbines are no longer manufactured.

Acquisition by United Technologies

On December 10, 2009, Connecticut-based

announced that it would acquire a 49.5% stake in Clipper Windpower by purchasing 84.3 million new shares and 21.8 million shares from current shareholders for £126.5 million. Clipper said this equity purchase "will significantly strengthen its balance sheet and enable it to enhance its operations and pursue its strategic initiatives". On 18 October 2010, UTC agreed with Clipper to acquire the rest of the company,UTC to acquire remaining interest in Clipper Windpower
''North American Windpower'', 18 October 2010. Retrieved: 23 October 2010. a transaction that was completed in December 2010 for a total cost of approximately $385 million. On March 15, 2012, United Technologies announced their intent to sell Clipper Windpower. CFO Greg Hayes described their 2010 acquisition as a "mistake". United Technologies' sudden about-face is attributed to the fact that the windpower manufacturing company does not fit into their new aerospace-focused business model.

Offshore wind energy turbine

In April 2008 Clipper Windpower announced plans to develop a large wind energy turbine in Blyth,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

in the United Kingdom. For use offshore, each turbine was designed to be rated at around 7.5 MW and would be roughly double the size of the largest turbines used in commercial offshore wind farms at that time (

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

3.6 MW turbine).Wilkes, Justin
The European offshore wind industry - key trends and statistics 2009
''

EWEA WindEurope is an association promoting the use of wind power in Europe. Based in Brussels it has over 600 members, which are active in over 50 countries, including manufacturers with a leading share of the world wind power market, component suppli ...

'', January 2010, p.4, Retrieved: 23 October 2010. According to the British Wind Energy Association, electrical power for a city the size of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

could be supplied by as few as 20 of the turbines. Clipper Windpower Marine had started construction of a offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Neptune Estate, Tyne in 2010. The factory would have been used to develop and build blades for the Britannia project, a 10 MW offshore wind turbine prototype under development by Clipper and scheduled for deployment in late 2012. However, Clipper stopped development of the 10 MW in August 2011 after parent United Technologies deemed the financial crisis as too severe, and paid £1.6 million of aid back to The Crown Estate.Andersen, Flemming Thestrup
Clipper drops giant turbine
''Penge.dk'', 25 August 2011. Accessed: 29 September 2011.

Other

The company discontinued manufacturing new turbines in Cedar Rapids in 2012. Its manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids is devoted to replacement parts for its Liberty wind turbine, as it had problems with a Brazilian supplier. A number of research labs are working to modify the Clipper wind turbine design. Navid Goudarzi and other investors have worked on a novel multiple-generator drivetrain that proposes employing different rated generators.

''References''

External links

Cutaway diagram of Liberty wind turbine
{{Wind power in the United States Wind turbine manufacturers Companies based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Manufacturing companies based in Iowa Carpinteria, California