GE Renewable Energy plans to recruit 250 workers at its LM Wind Power wind turbine blade manufacturing site in Cherbourg, France, by the first quarter of 2021.
"Every new hire will go through an intensive training program at the factory's ‘Center of Excellence' to learn wind turbine blade manufacturing processes. The expanded production workforce will allow the company to address industry demand," GE Renewable Energy said Thursday.
Opened two years ago in April 2018, the factory today counts more than 300 employees, 34 percent being women. The facility became the first wind turbine blade manufacturing site in France, the company said.
The facility has produced the world’s largest offshore wind turbine blade ever manufactured, 107-meters long, dedicated to GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine. In 2019, two blades were shipped to testing facilities, and three were assembled on the Haliade-X validation unit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Cherbourg site has now started commercial production.
Worth noting, the Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine has this week also hit a major milestone, as the classification company DNV GL has granted it a provisional type certificate (IECRE Provisional RNA Component Certificate) which demonstrates GE’s Haliade-X prototype has the highest safety and quality standards and provides evidence that its design is on-track to meet the full type certification requirements.
Commenting on the plan to hire 250 workers in France, Henrik Ravn, the site Director, said: "Cherbourg is the world’s first and only factory to produce a blade longer than 100-meters. It’s a great milestone for the wind industry, but also an outstanding achievement for the teams. This could not have happened without their passion and commitment. We are proud to take part in the region’s social and economic development, to create more jobs in the surrounding community, but also to bring new skills to Normandy’s workforce."
The Cherbourg team is mostly looking to expand its production workforce, with positions that are open to all profiles and backgrounds. Every new employee will be trained to manufacture wind turbine blades through LM Wind Power's ‘Center of Excellence' training program – a six-week theoretical and practical training course, which will develop the skills and technical expertise required to produce high-quality wind turbine blades. The site will also be looking for production supervisors, quality controllers, logistic operators and maintenance technicians.