WEG announced the acquisition of the utility-scale wind turbine business from Northern Power Systems ("Northern Power" or "NPS"), a US company dedicated to design, develop and manufacture permanent magnet direct drive ( "PM / DD" wind turbines) without requiring a gear box arrangement and grid-friendly power technology components, with headquarters in the city of Barre, Vermont, USA.

Under the present agreement, WEG will become the sole owner of the patent portfolio, assets, know-how, and related materials including; drawings, designs, specifications, and software used in connection with the design and maintenance of wind turbines with more than 1.5 megawatts of rated capacity (utility-scale). WEG will also keep the engineering team who conducts wind power research and development activities in Barre, besides being responsible for the execution and maintenance contracts for some existing wind turbines.

WEG and NPS have originally entered into a technology partnership in 2013 to successfully introduce wind turbines permanent magnet direct drive solutions in the South American market. "We have now decided to move forward and take this fundamental step into our wind power internationalization and growth strategy," said Eduardo de Nóbrega, Managing Director of WEG Energy Division.

As stated by Mr. Nobrega “The acquisition of this utility-scale wind turbine business allows us to bring together a highly skilled experienced engineering team and speed up the development of new of wind turbine generations, in combination with the successful current portfolio of wind turbines ranging from 2.1 MW to 2.3 MW”.