Alina Oprea • 15 January, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Vestas wants to become a leader in offshore wind and has announced its plans to establish a new blade factory in Szczecin, Poland. The factory is planned to produce blades for Vestas' flagship offshore wind turbine, the V236-15.0 MW. The factory is expected to start operations in 2026, creating more than 1,000 direct jobs. Together with Vestas' previously announced plans to establish an assembly factory for offshore nacelles in Szczecin, Vestas' manufacturing footprint could increase with more than 1,700 direct jobs by 2026.
“Vestas intends to lead the development of a sustainable supply chain in Europe that can deliver the scale needed to meet the expected growth in demand for offshore wind. Our plans for two new offshore factories in Poland underline that Europe can spur wind industry investments and green jobs with the right long-term policy commitments for offshore wind projects,” says Tommy Rahbek Nielsen, Vestas COO.
The new offshore blade factory is planned to be located at a site in northern Szczecin, which Vestas acquired in February 2023. The site is close to the Ostrów Brdowski Island in Szczecin where Vestas' planned nacelle assembly factory would be located. The assembly factory is expected to start operations in 2025 and create 700 direct jobs.
“Poland is transforming its energy system and is a promising wind energy market with good wind conditions both onshore and offshore. Poland has a highly skilled labor force and a growing wind industry that can become an offshore hub for the Baltic Region and the rest of Europe. We have been a market leader in Poland for more than 20 years” says Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
The new factories are planned to support European and to some extent global demand, playing a crucial role in supporting Poland and the European offshore wind market and industry. With the two new factories in Szczecin together with Vestas' already existing footprint, Vestas is expected to soon employ more than 2,500 people in Poland.
Vestas' manufacturing footprint strategy is to prioritize markets where there's long-term certainty around market conditions and we have secured a sustainable order volume. Other locations where those conditions are met are also being considered for new capacity.