Vantaa, Finland, March 2014 - Yaskawa Electric Corporation, a global manufacturer of servomotors, controllers, inverters, and industrial robots, has announced that it will be the sole supplier of The Switch megawatt-class permanent magnet generator (PMG) and full-power converter (PMG) advanced drive train packages for wind power and other renewable energy applications to the Japanese market. The Switch products will be sold under the Yaskawa brand label and are now available to customers who want to stay at the forefront with the most modern wind turbine drive train technology for profitable energy generation.

Yaskawa and The Switch announced their strategic cooperation in October 2013 on high-power motors, generators and converters. Now making The Switch products available in the Japanese market is the first concrete action from this collaboration.

"Branding The Switch products under the Yaskawa name enables both companies to gain a stronger competitive advantage," says Jussi Vanhanen, Marketing Director at The Switch. "Yaskawa now has instant access to our full range of advanced, field-proven drive trains based on PMG and FPC technology. And The Switch has the support of a strong, local partner in the Japanese market, renowned for its solid reputation and high level of technological expertise."

The Switch product portfolio ideally complements the range of medium voltage technology products that Yaskawa already has available for wind turbine manufacturers. The Switch PMGs cover all wind power applications from 1 MW to 8 MW and higher, including direct-drive, medium-speed and high-speed PMGs.

"With the broader product range, Yaskawa can better serve the growing Japanese wind power market with bigger and better wind turbines. We look forward to expanding our presence in our market by bringing customers the proven capability in megawatt-class power generation from the European wind market. The wide product portfolio from The Switch will greatly benefit us in our commitment to develop our product range," adds Hiroyuki Ougi, Corporate Senior Vice President of Yaskawa.

The Switch is a pioneer in advanced drive train technology based on megawatt-class permanent magnet generators and full-power converter packages. The main focus areas are wind, solar, marine and special industrial solutions.