LM Wind Power, a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, has launched its new offshore wind turbine blades plant in Cherbourg, France, where it plans to provide a significant number of jobs.
According to GE, the new facility will see the recruitment of about 100 people by the end of the year, benefiting the economy and the local community, with the possibility of creating up to 2000 indirect jobs in the region over the long term.
The management team, as well as about ten employees, have already taken up their duties in the factory, GE said, adding that candidates for a quarter of the positions to be filled have been identified, which leaves around 70 vacancies in 2018.
“This plant will become a source of employment in the region. One hundred managers, technicians and operators on permanent contracts are to be filled in the year 2018,” Duncan Berry , President and CEO of LM Wind Power, said.
“The recruitments will be pursued in 2019 and during periods of full production, the site should accommodate more than 550 people.”
In preparation for the start of the prototyping phase expected in January 2019, LM Wind Power will offer the employees a four to six-week theoretical and practical program about turbine blades manufacturing at the new site in France, but also in factories in Spain and Poland.
The plant will be capable of producing the world’s longest blade – the 107-meter long LM 88.4 P – dedicated to the Haliade-X 12MW wind turbine.
In order to ensure the expected production capacity of this blade, the company announced that an extension of the plant is commencing.