North American Windpower: Vestas To Ramp Up Production At Colorado Manufacturing Facility

by NAW Staff on Wednesday 16 January 2013

Vestas has secured an agreement to supply its wind turbine towers to a number of non-Vestas wind projects over the next two years. In order to meet that demand, the company will ramp up production at its Pueblo, Colo., tower factory, where the company laid off 3% of its North American workforce last year.

As a result of the new agreement, Vestas will hire more than 100 additional workers by the end of this quarter.

"Our tower-factory employees are very excited about this new order," says Tony Knopp, vice president of Vestas Towers America Inc., in Pueblo. "The extension of the production tax credit at the beginning of the year also was an important factor in securing this contract, and we are now in the process of evaluating our ramp-up plan."

The company says it will soon begin manufacturing the first part of the third-party tower supply agreement, which could use up to 25% of the production capacity.

“Vestas is continuously evaluating its manufacturing footprint and opportunities to utilize the current production capacity better,” explains Jean-Marc Lechene, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Vestas Wind Systems A/S. “Producing components for third parties is part of this strategy, and although we have had other smaller orders, this new agreement is the first major step in realizing this plan.”

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