Nordex has begun production of concrete wind turbine towers from its new factory in Spain.
The concrete tower production facility, in Motilla del Palancar, in Castilla-La Mancha, took four months to build.
Nordex is equipping four wind farm projects in Spain with concrete towers.
The segments are assembled on site at the wind farms when the turbines are set up.
Nordex CEO Jose Luis Blanco said: “By producing the concrete towers on site near to the wind farm we are able to reduce the logistics costs as the transport distances and times are much shorter.”
The plant is able to turn out a total of 50 concrete tower segments a week, which equates to two towers with hub heights of 120 metres.
It is the twelfth tower factory to be built by Nordex, which is based on a mobile concept, which means the facility can be completely dismantled and assembled at other locations close to new wind farms to be built.
Some cranes being used in Motilla del Palancar have come from a concrete factory in India while some of the moulds have come from locations that include Chile.
The factory covers more than 120,000 square metres and employs 250 people, which will increase to 300.
The factory will supply towers for projects using Nordex turbines.
The interior is equipped with cranes in order to lift the segments, each weighing from 45-55 tonnes, within the factory.
Seven moulds are used to produce the convex concrete tower segments, measuring between 17 and 20 metres.
Nordex obtains the concrete from a local supplier in the immediate vicinity.