New Wind Turbine Manufacturer Breaks Ground in Windsor

By Bill Jackson, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Jun. 15–The 120-foot long, 8.2-ton blades sitting on an extended semi-trailer presented a graphic demonstration of what a now-empty field will produce a year from now.

Vestas Americas, a division of Vestas Wind Systems, officially started construction Thursday on its first U.S. manufacturing plant in the Great Western Industrial Park, east of the Colorado Division of Kodak in Windsor. When complete, the 200,000-square-foot plant will produce 1,200 blades a year, according to Vestas officials, who shared their groundbreaking ceremonies with more than 200 visitors, including Gov. Bill Ritter.

The plant, said Ole Borup Jacobsen, president of Vestas Blades, will be in full operation within eight months and will operate seven days a week, 24 hours per day, manufacturing not only the 120-foot wind turbine blades but 132-foot blades as well.

Ritter called Thursday’s event “a historic groundbreaking,” noting the $62 million plant will be an economic driver for the region and will help make Colorado “the renewable energy leader if not in the world, then certainly in the United States.”

Michael Jacobsen, project manager for the Windsor plant, said the facility will be comprised of four product lines, 500 feet in length that can produce one blade every 24 hours each. In addition, there will be a 400-foot long finishing line and a painting facility.

“We don’t have a real choice of blade color. They come in one color like those out there,” Jacobsen said, pointing to the bright white blades on the semi-trailer. He said the blades will be shipped in sets of three that will be “very close” to the same size, weight and pitch, offering the most efficiency once they are a part of a wind-generating tower. Once installed, the blades, at the tips, will spin 120 mph.

Much of the management staff has been hired for the plant, Jacobsen said. Once fully staffed, the plant will have 30-35 employees in the plant’s office, and 400 blue collar workers.

Jens S1/4by, president of Vestas Americas, which is headquartered in Portland, Ore., said company officials looked at several sites before settling on Windsor, noting its ideal location to rail service and good highway network. In addition, he said, the area provides a good selection for prospective employees.

S1/4by said wind is a global source of energy and wind turbine-produced electricity is one of the fastest growing renewable sources of energy in the world. Denmark, he said, gets 20 percent of electrical needs from wind turbines and wind energy is growing in the United States annual at a rate of 27 percent.

In northern Colorado, wind farms are being built in northeast Weld County and northern Logan County.

“Wind is free and is inexhaustible. You can generate a lot of electricity very fast with a wind farm and it is a significant step in fighting global warming,” S1/4by said.

Breakout: The Windsor plant is the first Vestas blade factory in the United States. Other factories are in Tianjin, China; Lem, Denmark; Nakskov, Denmark; Taranto, Italy; Lauchhammer, Germany; Isle of Wright, Great Britain; and Portland, Australia.

Breakout: Vestas was founded in 1898 by H.S. Hansen, a blacksmith, in Lem, Denmark. In 1979, the company was ready to deliver the first wind turbines to customers interested in investing in alternative energy. In 1986, large sections of the Vestas Group were sold and a new company, Vestas Wind Systems A/S was founded to concentrate exclusively on wind energy. It is now the world leader in wind technology and has more than 12,300 employees worldwide.

Expected revenue for 2007 is about $7 billion.

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