LM Wind Power, a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, has completed the recruitment phase for its new offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Cherbourg, France.
According to the Danish company, the Cherbourg site currently counts more than 100 employees.
The first group of 30 employees participated in the launch of the factory’s Center of Excellence training center in September and joined a one-week theoretical class, followed by a week of practicing on a piece of a turbine blade mold.
After completing the course, each trainee spent a month abroad at other LM Wind Power sites in Spain, Denmark, Poland and Canada, depending on the job scope.
The second group started its training program on 22 October, the company said.
“This project entails new challenges and creates enthusiasm as we are starting up a new factory, installing new equipment inside and welcoming new people with diverse backgrounds. At the same time, we are developing a new product: a new blade of a size we have never achieved before,” said Lukasz Cejrowski , LM 107.0 P Project Director.
“We can witness a significant combination of efforts as we use the expertise from our facilities worldwide to train the people in Cherbourg. This enthusiasm from all our teams will bring us to the successful ramp-up of the factory.”
LM launched the Cherbourg plant in June, with the site expected to enter the prototyping phase in January next year.
The factory will be capable of producing the world’s longest blade – the 107m long LM 88.4 P – dedicated to the Haliade-X 12MW wind turbine.
The first blade will be shipped to ORE Catapult’s center in Blyth, UK, for indoor testing, while the next three blades will be installed on GE’s Haliade-X 12MW prototype at the end of Q2 2019 at a yet-to-be-determined site.