News release from Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Aarhus, 27 September 2019
Vestas continues to introduce new products to the market to lower the cost of renewable energy, meet evolving customer demand and drive the energy transition forward, bringing changes to our product portfolio at a historically high pace. To meet the manufacturing requirements of our changing product portfolio – including the introduction of our EnVentus platform and 4 MW platform variants – Vestas intends to scale down production of V136 blades and invest in other blade types and capabilities according to market demand.
The changes in Vestas’ product portfolio calls for a scale-down of V136 blade production in Europe while investing in other blade types such as V117 and V150. With the adjustment, we seek to ensure our ability to deliver the right products at the right time at the right cost to our global customer base.
Specifically, the scale-down of V136 blade production in Europe will impact our facilities in Lauchhammer, Germany and in Lem, Denmark, where we intend to reduce our workforce at the two sites by a total of approximately 590 hourly-paid employees. Vestas continues to produce blades for its 2 MW and 4 MW platforms in Europe, while preparing to develop the current and future EnVentus blade variants.
“Today’s very competitive industry and the fast-moving energy transition means we must introduce new products and solutions where and when the market requires them. Our continued competitiveness in this environment means we must adjust our global manufacturing footprint to ensure we proactively manage our cost base and invest in new solutions to capture future growth”, says Jean-Marc Lechêne, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Vestas. “We’re pleased that our new EnVentus and 4 MW platform solutions are very well-received by our customers all over the world, but the resulting manufacturing changes mean we must unfortunately let go of good, hardworking colleagues”.
The Lauchhammer factory will continue to produce V117 blades and Vestas will upgrade the V117 blade moulds to ensure continued production, while limited production of V136 blades also will continue. The intended workforce reductions include approximately 500 hourly-paid employees, specifically 170 third-party employees and 330 temporary workers. This represents an approximately 50 percent reduction in the number of employees at the factory. Germany remains a key market to Vestas, with more than 14 GW of installed turbines, 11 GW under service and more than 2,300 employees after the intended workforce reduction.
With its proximity to Vestas’ R&D Centre in Aarhus and several test sites in Denmark, Vestas’ blade facilities in Lem will remain the hub of Vestas’ blade innovation and will continue producing all blade prototypes and test blades for the entire Vestas product portfolio, production of blade moulds and introduction of new blade variants to the market (e.g. EnVentus blades). V136 blade production will cease in Denmark as part of the scale-down. The intended workforce reduction at the blade facilities in Lem totals approximately 90 hourly paid employees and corresponds to around 12 percent of the facility’s employees.
As of 30 June 2019, Vestas employed more than 24,500 people globally.
For more information, please contact:
Anders Riis
Head of Communications
Email: ANPRR@vestas.com
Tel: +45 4181 3922
For German media
Sarah Erler
Communications Specialist
Vestas Northern & Central Europe
Email: SAHEI@vestas.com
Tel: +49 170 9279364
About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 105 GW of wind turbines in 80 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 86 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 24,500 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.
We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels:
- www.twitter.com/vestas
- www.linkedin.com/company/vestas
- www.facebook.com/vestas
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