Vestas will be expanding its nacelle factory by 6,800 m2 after renting an area in the Danish municipality of Ringkøbing, creating space for an additional 80 turbines – almost a doubling, reports local media Ringkøbing Skjern Dagblad.

The expansion in Western Denmark comes after Vestas' vehicles have been granted permission to cross the Elb tunnel to Hamburg, meaning that the transport of nacelles to European markets no longer requires a detour to the Port of Aarhus in Northern Denmark before being sailed to Rostock in Germany.

Following the decision to close Vestas' nacelle factory in the Northern Spanish city of León at the end of last year, the Ringkøbing facility is the only remaining turbine construction facility in Europe.

This also means that Vestas will be hiring more employees at its Danish facility by March.

"In the coming period we are hunting for 40-50 workers," says facility director Richard Hvas according to Ringkøbing Skjern Dagblad, adding that the company is primarily hunting for electricians, mechanics and smiths at present.

Perhaps some of the new hires will not be so new to the company. Just a few months ago, Vestas dismissed 33 workers from its nacelle facility as part of a streamlining which slash 400 jobs. Now, it seems new workers could be needed again as during the spring the current production of 3.6 MW turbines will be replaced with 4.2 turbines, which sell well not least on the Norwegian and Swedish markets.

English Edit: Lena Rutkowski

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