LM Wind Power, the world’s largest producer of wind turbines blades, announced today a major strategic move assisting the growing offshore wind market.
The company will open the world’s longest, widest and tallest wind turbine blade workshop, capable of manufacturing blades of up to 100 meters in length, far longer than any existing blades. To complement this new three-mould workshop, LM Wind Power intends to construct a large-scale technology centre for the fatigue testing of 100 meter blades as well as an adjacent mould manufacturing workshop. Longer than 500 meters the new facility will be operational during January 2012 and create approximately 300 additional jobs once fully operational.
The new offshore technology centre will be situated near the company’s existing wind turbine blade facility in Jiangyin, two hours’ drive west of Shanghai. LM Wind Power thereby extends its successful cooperation with the Jiangyin Government in line with the local authorities’ ambitions to establish an important renewable energy business development area.
LM Wind Power Blades VP and General Manager for China, Steven Wang commented: “We can move quickly and develop prototypes faster. To meet the demand for fast development of blades for Class I wind areas for Northern Europe and Class II and III wind areas for offshore China and Korea, LM Wind Power Blades has established a manufacturing and testing facility for prototypes close to this important market. The proximity of the new site to the Yangtze River means we can ship blades easily to the Jiangsu offshore regions as well as to Korea and other sites in Asia.”
LM Wind Power Blades VP Global Sales & Marketing, Ian Telford added: “This is not just a site for China. LM Wind Power is making a strategic move to set up a world class location to develop, test and manufacture big blades, which will cut costs and development time for our customers. We expect to use this site to make prototype blades to help our customers worldwide to test their prototype turbines, before setting up serial production nearer to their home markets. The facility is also fully flexible so when we are not making prototypes, the bays can quickly be converted into manufacturing blades for 1.5-3MW wind turbines.”
