Vestas, a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer and servicer of wind turbines, says it is consolidating its footprint in Colorado to reflect lower near-term market demand, strengthen its service and construction setup, and improve efficiency.
With the consolidation, Vestas is supporting growing business segments and ensuring the foundation for efficient adjustments and scale-up when demand increases again. The consolidation entails lower manufacturing capacity, which involves reducing the headcount by approximately 450 colleagues across three factories. Out of the 450 colleagues, Vestas expects to offer new roles in other parts of the business to approximately 150 impacted colleagues.
The company will consolidate blades production to the Windsor Blades factory and repurpose the Brighton Blades site into a North American headquarters for the global tooling business – consolidating from six dispersed smaller locations. This entails ending blades production at the Brighton Blades factory, which means laying off approximately 280 colleagues. Additionally, Vestas will reduce headcount at the Pueblo Towers factory and Brighton Nacelles factories by a total of approximately 170 colleagues.
“The wind energy industry in the U.S. has grown tremendously in recent years, which has increased our factories’ capacity and expanded our service business,” says Tommy Rahbek Nielsen, COO of Vestas. “With a larger fleet under service and lower demand in the near-term, we are therefore consolidating our setup in Colorado to ensure we can cater for our service business’ needs and are structured in the right way to ramp up efficiently once wind turbine demand requires us to.”
To protect jobs and ensure a continued strong Vestas footprint in Colorado, Vestas will support the impacted colleagues, pending eligibility, in transitioning to other roles in growing parts of the organization such as the service business which supports the lifetime operations and maintenance of wind park assets.
The U.S. remains one of the world’s largest markets for wind energy and by keeping four sites in Colorado, Vestas says it is ensuring a strong foundation that will enable future adjustments and efficient scale-up when demand increases again.
