The Switch has won a number of major new customers in China and Europe, with orders worth tens of millions of euros already received.
Vantaa, Finland May 1, 2007 – The Switch supplies innovative power electronics and drive trains for distributed power generation systems. It operates in a number of areas in the renewable energy sector, with wind power currently its biggest business. The Switch’s products have been developed to meet the needs of its customers, who are leading OEMs and system integrators.
“We have gained a number of new customers in China and Europe, who have already placed significant orders with us. Permanent magnet generators and power converters have demonstrated their benefits and become the preferred basic solution in new wind turbine models,” says Jukka-Pekka Mäkinen, CEO of The Switch.
“Our newest plant is starting production in China, while in Finland work to expand our facilities in Lappeenranta is almost finished and our new 5000 square meter facility in Vaasa will be completed early next year. We have made substantial investments in our product development and production facilities, and we are now starting to see the results.”
Following the expansion of its production capacity and arrival of major orders, The Switch has launched an extensive recruitment campaign. The company intends to hire around 100 new people by the end of 2008. Renewable energy is a ‘trendy’ sector which is firmly in the media spotlight, making The Switch a desirable place to work. Employees of The Switch have a real opportunity to do something about climate change, and the company’s innovative approach and drive to transform technology into practical applications also offer interesting challenges.
The wind power markets are presently worth around EUR 15 billion and are expected to grow by 50% in the next two years. A total of USD 45 billion was invested in renewable energy during 2006, increasing global wind power capacity by 13 GW and solar power capacity by almost 2.5 GW.