Vestas Opens New Nacelle Assembly Plant in Colorado, Looks to a Brighter Future in North America

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once described the American Dream as a glorious past coupled with an exciting future, held together with a dreary present. If so, Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) (Randers, Denmark) was living the American Dream when it opened a large nacelle and hub assembly factory in Brighton, Colorado, earlier this month.

For Vestas, 2008 and 2009 were very good years--so successful, in fact, that orders placed in 2008 sometimes were fulfilled in 2009, as demand outstripped the company's ability to fill them. But Vestas recorded only two new North American turbine orders in 2009, a victim of the new-build slowdown in the wind power industry.

But a more vibrant future was evident when Vestas opened its Colorado factory with news that the new site will produce components for the recently announced 250-megawatt (MW) Cedar Point Wind project in Colorado, which will be built by Enbridge/Renewable Energy Systems Americas Incorporated (RES Americas). That order comprises 139 of Vestas' V90 2-MW turbines. Cedar Point Wind will be Colorado's second-largest windfarm when it begins operating in 2011.

Measuring 265,000 square feet and representing an investment of about $100 million, the new nacelle factory will initially run one 8-hour shift per day. At this run rate, Vestas can produce 14 of its 2-MW nacelles each week. But Torben Poulsen, vice president and factory manager at the nacelle plant (pictured at right, photo by Vestas), told Industrial Info, "We are very optimistic about the future, that's why we are making such a large investment here in Colorado. As the economy fully recovers and we see new orders coming from our customers, we expect to add a second shift, and maybe even a third shift in the future if things really get up and running."

"Opening this new factory is significant good news," Poulsen said July 13 at a press conference before taking reporters on a tour of the assembly floor. "In building this new facility, we came in on time and within budget. This is the largest nacelle factory Vestas has ever built. We're still hiring, and we're happy to be supporting the local economy. We never backed down from our commitment to Colorado and the wind business."

The Brighton facility can produce up to 1,500 nacelles per year if it runs three shifts. Initial production will focus on assembling nacelles for the company's 2-MW onshore turbine, but it could also produce offshore turbines, as well as the 3-MW model if market conditions warrant it. Output from the Brighton facility will go to the North American market, company officials said at the July 13 press conference.

Vestas has made Colorado its North American manufacturing hub, committing to investing about $1 billion to build and equip four wind power factories. Valued at about $100 million, the Brighton nacelle site is the third of four investments in wind power manufacturing the company plans to make in Colorado. Earlier this year Vestas opened a wind power tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo, Colorado, which the company said is the world's largest tower manufacturing facility. In 2008, Vestas opened a 410,000 square-foot blade manufacturing facility in Windsor; Colorado. Next April, the company is scheduled to open a second wind power blade factory in Brighton.

In North America, Vestas is the second-largest manufacturer of wind turbines, trailing GE. Since entering the North American market in 1981, Vestas has manufactured about 11,500 wind turbines, with a combined capacity of more than 8,500 MW. Worldwide, Vestas is the wind energy market share leader, with about 20% of the market, Vestas officials said. The Danish company has supplied more than 40,500 wind turbines globally since 1979.

Vestas' North American order book has grown recently. In addition to the Cedar Point project, which will be fulfilled by the company's Colorado facilities, Vestas recently won orders totaling 172 MW for three Canadian windfarms: a 69-MW grassroot plant to be built in Alberta, a 54-MW expansion of an existing windfarm in New Brunswick, and a 49-MW grassroot windfarm in southeastern Ontario. Company officials said it was not likely that the new Brighton nacelle plant would be involved in fulfilling these projects. For additional information on these Canadian wind projects see June 30, 2010, article - TransAlta Increases New Brunswick and Alberta Wind Capacity and June 8, 2010, article - International Power Canada Orders 27 Wind Turbines from Vestas.

Globally, Vestas estimates that the company will book firm and unconditional orders for 8,000 to 9,000 MW of wind turbines in the 2010 calendar year. The company said it plans to introduce a 3-MW onshore and offshore wind turbine, model V112, next month.

For the new nacelle facility in Brighton, Vestas is looking to hire about 100 skilled craft laborers. But the company only wants to hire workers who will be a good cultural fit with Vestas' values. "We look a lot at people's mindset and their attitudes, how they view safety and quality," Poulsen told Industrial Info. "If people have this outlook, then we are confident that we can teach them the mechanical, the electrical, and the hydraulic skills as needed."

In a move that was separate from the dedication of the nacelle plant in Brighton, Vestas earlier this month opened a large North American engineering facility in Louisville, Colorado, about 30 miles west of the Brighton nacelle site. The new R&D site will focus specifically on increasing wind turbine efficiency and lowering energy costs, the company said. Engineers at the site will work to improve technology for existing turbines and develop the wind power systems of the future, says Vestas.

The Louisville engineering site will open immediately with 46 employees; within one year's time the company estimated it could have up to 125 engineers working there. The placement of the R&D site was not an accident: Locating an R&D site in Louisville was designed to enhance its ability to integrate product development by placing it close to the company's Colorado manufacturing sites so it could better meet the needs of its North American customers.

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