Vestas Wind Systems this week received its fourth North American order this year for wind turbines, which will keep employees in Windsor and Brighton busy.
The latest order, from Capital Power Corporation in British Columbia, will have Vestas employees producing 44 wind turbines that will generate 142 megawatts of electricity. Delivery of the turbines — the blades will be built in Windsor and the nacelles, or housing units, will be built in the company's new Brighton facility — is set for 2012. The towers for the turbines will be built at the company's North American facilities, which include the company's new tower plant in Pueblo.
The Brighton nacelle facility will soon be operational, said Aili Jokela, vice president of communications for Vestas Americas in Portland, Ore.
"Both the nacelle and blade factory are actively hiring and gearing up for this order and others," Jokela said. "We're very optimistic about the year ahead of us. You will see us continuing to bring skilled technical resources into both of those factories over the remainder of this year and into 2011."
Vestas' recent orders were enough to put the Windsor factory back into regular operations after a company production halt that lasted until April because of a weak 2009, when Vestas didn't have one U.S. order.
Since the beginning of this year, Vestas has seen domestic and Canadian orders for 174 total turbines, including the latest Capital Power order in British Columbia.
Capital Power also has placed an option for an additional 58 wind turbines, which could generate 375 megawatts for the 105-megawatt Port Dover and Nanticoke Wind Project in Ontario and 150 turbines for the proposed 270-megawatt Kingsbridge II Project, also in Ontario, a news release reported. This option is contingent upon provincial environmental and regulatory approvals, the release stated. Should all three projects be developed, Vestas would deliver a total of 287 turbines to Capital Power, the company noted.
