Wind power plants
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Vestas closes the site in Lauchhammer with about 460 employees
Founded in 2002, Vestas was considered a major success in the lignite area. The production site for blades for wind turbines in Lachhammer is now closed. The deputy mayor talks about a disaster.
Knife manufacturer Vestas for wind turbines will close its production base in Lachsamar later this year. Employees received surprising news during a staff meeting on Monday. About 460 employees have been affected.
In a statement on Monday, the company said it would like to focus more on offshore wind turbines in the future than ever before. “It’s always hard to make decisions that negatively affect our good, hard-working colleagues,” said Tommy Rahbeck Nielsen, Vestas executive vice president. Vestas lowered its outlook for 2021 in August due to distribution issues and higher costs.
The deputy mayor talks about the disaster for the city
In the first reaction in Rbb, Deputy Mayor Jgrg Rother spoke of a disaster for the city. The left called the planned closure a “heavy blow to Lusatia.”
“Obviously the demand for rotor blades has fallen again,” said Sebastian Walter, chairman of the Left Parliamentary Committee. However, Walter explained that the Brandenburg state government was partly responsible for the very low expansion of wind power in the state in recent years.
Left-wing MP Christian Gorge called on the state government to immediately begin negotiations with Vestas to secure the future of its employees in Lusatia.
Closure in Spain and Denmark
The Danish windmill manufacturer plans to close two factories in Europe in addition to the Lachhammer site. Production in Viviro (Spain) and Esberg (Denmark) is expected to stop by mid-2022. About 650 employees have been affected by these measures.
The number of layoffs is not clear
It is not yet clear how many layoffs there will be in the end. The company is exploring options for shifting production and service to other Vestas locations in Germany.
At Lauchhammer, blades for wind turbines are manufactured in a variety of sizes. After the biggest boom, the company did not renew hundreds of fixed-term and temporary work contracts already two years ago. Half the staff were affected at the time.
The place was not in danger, it was said then. One will focus on the main business and make small rotor blades. Vestas has been manufacturing rotor blades in Lauchhammer for 19 years. In the once lignite-dominated city of Lachshammer, immigration was seen as a milestone in structural change.
Broadcast: Brandenburg Actual, 09/20/2021, 7:30 p.m.