Vestas will shortly be introducing its EnVentus platform and 4 MW wind turbine variants. As part of its preparations, the company will be scaling down production of V136 blades in Europe and investing in other blade types and capabilities according to market demand, particularly the V117 and V150 blade types.
Scaling down V136 blade production in Europe will impact Vestas facilities in Lauchhammer, Germany, and Lem, Denmark, where the company intends to reduce its workforce by a total of 590 hourly-paid employees across the two sites. Vestas continues to produce blades for its 2 MW and 4 MW platforms in Europe, while preparing to develop the current and future EnVentus blade variants.
“Today’s very competitive industry and the fast-moving energy transition means we must introduce new products and solutions where and when the market requires them” said Jean-Marc Lechêne, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Vestas. “Our continued competitiveness in this environment means we must adjust our global manufacturing footprint to ensure we proactively manage our cost base and invest in new solutions to capture future growth. We’re pleased that our new EnVentus and 4 MW platform solutions are very well-received by our customers all over the world, but the resulting manufacturing changes mean we must unfortunately let go of good, hardworking colleagues”.
The Lauchhammer factory will continue to produce V117 blades and Vestas will upgrade the V117 blade moulds to ensure continued production, while limited production of V136 blades also will continue. The intended workforce reductions include approximately 500 hourly-paid employees, specifically 170 third-party employees and 330 temporary workers. This represents an approximately 50 percent reduction in the number of employees at the factory. Germany remains a key market to Vestas, with more than 14 GW of installed turbines, 11 GW under service and more than 2,300 employees after the intended workforce reduction.
With its proximity to Vestas’ R&D Centre in Aarhus and several test sites in Denmark, Vestas’ blade facilities in Lem will remain the hub of Vestas’ blade innovation and will continue producing all blade prototypes and test blades for the entire Vestas product portfolio, production of blade moulds and introduction of new blade variants to the market (e.g. EnVentus blades). V136 blade production will cease in Denmark as part of the scale-down. The intended workforce reduction at the blade facilities in Lem totals approximately 90 hourly paid employees and corresponds to around 12 percent of the facility’s employees.
As of 30 June 2019, Vestas employed more than 24,500 people globally.
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