Rotor blade production in the Middle East Delegation to Iran from Northern Germany

All components for a wind turbine from a single source - Mapna Generator Engineering & Manufacturing is the only company in Iran that produces wind turbines, from the rotor shaft to the control electronics.  A 60-strong business delegation, headed up by Hamburg’s Senator for Economics, Frank Horch, and Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister for Economics, Reinhard Meyer, travelled to Iran in mid-November. Among other things, they visited this plant, for which Aerodyn delivered the rotor blade design.

Mapna produces everything itself; in the European wind power industry, this type of all-round production has long been obsolete, with manufacturers like Siemens, Nordex or Senvion working with networks of specialised suppliers. This was out of the question for Iran due to the embargo. Since early 2016, the sanctions have been reversed gradually.

“The international trade sanctions severely restricted the Iranian industry, so it had to rely on itself,” explains Reinhard Meyer. “One consequence of this is the high percentage of wind turbine components Mapna produces in-house. The workflows here make a very good impression.” By 2020, Iran aims to install a capacity of roughly 5,000 MW from renewable energy sources, from solar power systems and wind farms. New Mapna 4 MW turbines will contribute to this.