Vestas has revealed plans to establish a new blade factory in Szczecin, Poland, where the company aims to produce blades for its flagship offshore wind turbine, the V236-15.0 MW.
The new offshore blade factory is planned to be located at a site in northern Szczecin, which Vestas acquired in February 2023. The factory is expected to start operations in 2026, creating more than 1,000 direct jobs.
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.
“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,” said Tommy Rahbek Nielsen , Vestas COO.
With the two new factories in Szczecin together with Vestas’ already existing footprint, the company is expected to soon employ more than 2,500 people in Poland.
“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 labour force and growing wind industry that can become an offshore hub for the Baltic Region and the rest of Europe ,” said Nils de Baar , President of Vestas Northern and Central Europe.
The Vestas V236-15.0 MW prototype offshore wind turbine was installed at the Østerild National test centre for large wind turbines in Western Jutland, Denmark in December 2022. Three months later, the wind turbine reached its nominal power rating of 15 MW.
In August 2023, the unit set a world record for the most power output by a single wind turbine in 24 hours, producing 363 megawatt-hours in that period. At the end of last year, the Danish company received a type certificate for its 15 MW offshore wind turbine.
With a swept area exceeding 43,000 m2, one single V236-15.0 MW unit is capable of producing enough energy to power more than 20,000 households.
The turbine will make its offshore debut in 2024 at the Frederikshavn wind farm off Denmark.