Vestas To Build Two More Factories in Colorado

Vestas (VWS.CO), the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, announced plans to further expand its American manufacturing presence by establishing a new blade factory and a nacelle assembly factory in Brighton, Colorado.

The nacelle factory will be Vestas’ first in the USA. Nacelles are the turbine housing, containing vital components such as the gearbox, generator and transformer.The new blade factory will supplement the existing blade factory in Windsor, Colorado.

The nacelle assembly factory will have an annual production capacity of 1,400 nacelles. With an output of 1,800 blades per year, the blade factory in Brighton will match the annual output of the Windsor plant, bringing the company’s production capacity for wind turbine blades in the USA to 3,600 per year.

Vestas’ tower factory, also to be built in Colorado, will have a production capacity of 900 towers per year. Once fully operational in the first half of 2010, the blade factory will bring 650 new wind jobs to Brighton. The nacelle factory, which is expected to run at full capacity in mid 2010, will create an additional 700 jobs.

Vestas said the reasons for choosing Brighton are its central location, easy access to rail services and highway infrastructure, and proximity to the plant in Windsor.

“We are extremely pleased to be building Vestas’ largest nacelle assembly factory to date. Denver and the surrounding areas give us direct access to a large, qualified workforce, and this was one of the primary reasons for choosing Brighton,” says Søren Husted, President of Vestas Nacelles A/S.

In order to establish a complete supply chain for the factory in Brighton, Vestas Nacelles will set up a purchasing office in Chicago, Illinois to be close to the extensive northeast network of suppliers.

“On behalf of the people of Colorado, I am grateful that Vestas has chosen to once again invest in our state,” says Bill Ritter, Governor of the State of Colorado. “This is a tremendous boon for all of Colorado, not just Brighton. By bringing more than 1,350 additional jobs here, Vestas is cementing its standing as one of Colorado’s pioneering partners in the New Energy Economy."