Sinovel seeking $58m from US supplier

BEIJING - Wind turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co is seeking more than 369.1 million yuan ($58 million) from American Superconductor Corp (ASC) in a counterclaim filed in a dispute over component shipments.

Sinovel asked the Beijing Arbitration Commission to overrule claims by ASC's Suzhou Meien Superconductor Co unit over eight purchase agreements, the Beijing-based company said on Wednesday in a stock exchange filing.

The turbine maker also sought damages for breach of contract and legal and arbitration fees from the unit.

Sinovel, the first Chinese clean-energy company to make a counterclaim against complaints by an overseas company, is ASC's largest customer.

ASC said on April 5 that Sinovel refused to accept or pay for shipments of electrical components and spare parts for 1.5-megawatt and 3-megawatt turbines.

The US-based company's shares have plunged 83 percent since then.

Sinovel said it stopped receiving and paying for the component maker's "goods that didn't meet standards" to protect its "rights and interests".

The US company is seeking 490.2 million yuan in a claim filed with the arbitration commission, Sinovel said on Sept 20.

ASC filed civil and criminal complaints in Beijing related to allegedly stolen intellectual property, it said in a Sept 15 statement.

Sinovel will cooperate with local authorities in the investigation of a crane collapse that killed five people at a plant in Gansu province.

Sinovel's engineering contractor, Ningxia Tianxin Construction Development Holdings Co, was doing preparation for plant construction in Jiuquan city when the crane arm cracked, the Beijing-based company said on Tuesday in an e-mailed statement.

Bloomberg News