Danish wind turbine company Vestas (VWS.CO) announced the grand opening of its new wind tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo,
Colorado, which it says is the largest in the world.
The facility features nearly 13 million square feet of space and
eight miles of on-site railway tracks for the transport of materials
and finished tower components.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar attended the opening of the factory, which currently employs more than 400 workers and is capable, at peak
production, of producing 1,090 towers per year. The event also kicked
off Secretary Salazar’s national renewable energy tour, which spans
Colorado, Nevada and California.
“The steel industry has and will continue to play a large role in
Pueblo’s identity, but as seen here today, the renewable energy
industry is carving its own path into the city and state’s history,”
said Secretary Salazar.
Vestas Towers America, Inc. has the ability to process more than
200,000 tons of steel per year–enough to build two bridges the size
of the Golden Gate every year, or the equivalent of 28 Eiffel Towers.
“We have
deliberately located our factories in a central region in the U.S.–including our towers, nacelles and blades plants – because regional
centralization allows Vestas to build and ship locally in any direction
needed in North America, and that translated to a direct competitive
advantage for all of our stakeholders,” President of Vestas Towers A/S Knud Bjarne Hansen said.
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