November 15, 2009
Brevini gears up to celebrate
As work continues on its building, the wind turbine gearbox maker begins the long march toward production -- and jobs for 450 employees.
By KEITH ROYSDON
kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com
MUNCIE -- A few months ago, construction of the Brevini Wind building on the western edge of Delaware County began so quickly that a ground-breaking ceremony was never scheduled.
So officials from the Italian gearbox maker as well as state and local government are celebrating a little after the fact.
At 10 a.m. Dec. 1, a "topping off ceremony" has been scheduled at the rapidly-growing facility at Park One/332, the business park located at Interstate 69 and Ind. 332.
Renato Brevini, CEO of the company, is expected to attend, as are Brevini USA president Sal Spada -- whose staff, relocated from its former Chicago-area headquarters this summer, is already working in the Brevini building next to the construction site -- and Brevini Wind project manager Greg Winkler and state and local officials.
"With the exception of a few pieces of glass and some of the dock doors, the building will be totally enclosed at that point," Winkler said in reference to the Dec. 1 ceremony.
Also in December, Brevini will begin hiring team leaders who will soon afterward leave for three months at a Brevini facility in Germany to prepare for the beginning of production of gearboxes for wind turbines.
The goal is to put in place many of the 450 employees who will work locally for Brevini Wind, turning out gearboxes beginning in the first quarter of 2011.
As Brevini gets ready for production, Winkler and other officials are hoping the economy recovers in time to be ready for what could be explosive growth in wind energy.
"We're anxiously awaiting visible signs of the recession ending," Winkler said.
Great expectations
When Brevini's decision to relocate to and expand in Delaware County was announced in fall 2008, the potential for alternative energy like wind seemed promising.
Brevini -- which makes gearboxes for many industrial applications besides wind turbines -- has
capitalized on that potential, Winkler said.
"We have exceeded what our original expectations were," Winkler said when asked about orders for gearboxes. "But we want that process to continue. One of the concerns anyone has is that you may have orders but you want to make sure they follow through. Just because you have a purchase order doesn't mean that you have work."
According to the American Wind Energy Association, 8,000 megawatts of wind power generating capacity were produced in 2008, but the AWEA expected only 5,000 megawatts to be produced this year.
"It's down from 2008, but our projections are that it will be back up to around 8,000 in 2010 and even higher in 2011," Winkler said.
The AWEA noted that wind power installed in the third quarter of this year was greater than either the second quarter of this year or the third quarter of 2008.
Megawatts and mega-size
The first 20 new Brevini hires will leave for three months of training in Germany in January. There they will learn the company's processes for gear cutting and grinding. Once they're back in the United States, those team leaders will oversee training and certifying equipment.
Brevini's equipment needs are staggering and individual items can cost millions of dollars, Winkler said.
The test benches to be installed in the fall of 2010 must be able to hold two 3.2 megawatt wind turbine gear boxes, each weighing 43 tons.
"They're large but delicate, with lots of sensors to test the ways the gears are working," Winkler said.
When will all the construction, hiring, testing and production come together?
"Our best guess is that in the first quarter of 2011, we'll have product going out to customers," Winkler said.
