Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd. is the first high-tech enterprise in China to focus on independent development, design, and production of wind turbines. Additionally, the company maintains the sale of large-scale onshore, offshore, and intertidal turbines to various environmental conditions and wind resources worldwide.
Sinovel is the first Chinese business to independently develop a line of 5MW and 6MW wind turbines. With a total installed generating capacity of 17,087 MW as of 2021, Sinovel was ranked fourth in the Shanghai stock exchange market.
Sinovel Wind Group Company
Sinovel Wind Group Co, a Chinese manufacturer of wind turbines, is based in Beijing. As of 2011, its market share ranking is second globally. Thus, it became the largest manufacturer of wind turbines in China.
Furthermore, Donghai Bridge Wind Farm, China’s first offshore wind farm, opened its doors in July 2010 with 34 3 MW Sinovel turbines. In addition, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority ordered a 1.5 MW wind turbine in December 2010 to power a wastewater pumping plant in Charlestown, Boston.
Sinovel’s I.P. Theft Case
The case centered on technology developed by AMSC, formerly American Superconductor Inc, to conduct the flow of electricity from wind farms to electric grids and purchased by Sinovel for its products.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch from the western district announced that a manufacturer and exporter of wind turbines based in the People’s Republic of China was found guilty of stealing trade secrets from AMSC.
To produce wind turbines and retrofit existing ones to avoid paying AMSC, Sinovel allegedly conspired with others in 2011 to obtain AMSC’s copyrighted information and source code.
Sinovel Wind Group Co. was found guilty by a jury in Madison, Wisconsin, after an 11-day trial of trade secret theft, wire fraud, and conspiracy to conduct trade secret theft.
Sinovel’s Unlawful Conduct
Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan stated that Sinovel almost destroyed an American company by stealing its intellectual property. As demonstrated by the jury’s decision today, this kind of behavior by any firm is illegal and won’t be accepted. The Department is committed to preventing and prosecuting intellectual property theft from American businesses to promote innovation and economic progress.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia remarked that the verdict sends a strong and unambiguous message that the theft of ideas and innovation is not a business disagreement; it is a crime and therefore requires punishment.
Evidence Presented on Trial
Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd stole proprietary wind turbine technology from AMSC to manufacture its turbines powered by the stolen knowledge. The company in Wisconsin develops software that controls power flow from wind turbines to electrical grids.
As a result, Sinovel had an agreement with AMSC for more than $800 million in goods and services to be used with the wind turbines that Sinovel manufactured, supplied, and maintained at the time of the theft way back in March 2011.
Sinovel, along with Dejan Karabasevic, a former employee of AMSC Windtec Gmbh, Su Liying, the deputy director of Sinovel’s Research and Development Department, Zhao Haichun, a Sinovel technology manager, and others, was convicted on June 27, 2013.
Million Dollar Punishment
AMSC declared that the Chinese company’s lawsuit should resolve in exchange for $57.5 million in damages. However, U.S. Sinovel has a year to pay AMSC company and its restitution and a $1.5 million fine, according to U.S. federal jury.
Moreover, the trial’s evidence established Sinovel’s involvement in a plot to steal AMSC’s trade secrets access and copyrighted information to build several wind turbines and refit existing ones with technology without paying AMSC the more than $800 million it was due and promised.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, Sinovel’s illegal behavior caused irreparable harm to AMSC.
Sinovel was found guilty in the theft case due to their immorality in stealing. As a result, over half of the company’s global workforce and more than $1 billion in shareholder equity were lost and put at risk.
Ultimately, this is a lesson for all wind turbine manufacturers to remember when designing world-class turbines to respect sanctity and privacy.