Siemens Gamesa is planning to consolidate its Danish operations resulting in the loss of up to 600 jobs.
The turbine manufacturer said the changes were needed in order to “strengthen its product portfolio and enhance competitiveness” and were driven by “challenging market conditions resulting from price decline”.
Siemens Gamesa said it will focus on geared technology for the onshore wind segment, as previously announced, and will discontinue direct drive wind turbine production.
Onshore wind direct drive technology at its Brande plant will be phased out at the end of 2020, while onshore blade production in Aalborg will cease at the end of this year.
Offshore blade production in Aalborg, along with development, prototyping and testing of new offshore blades, will continue.
Additionally, the plant in Brande is facing temporary load reduction for the offshore segment as a result of recent project delays in Denmark.
Negotiations with local workers council are intended to start in October, in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. Information on the final agreements will be communicated once negotiations are completed.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Denmark managing director Andreas Nauen said: “We deeply regret to have to say goodbye to good and valued colleagues and we will do our utmost to help our affected employees move on in the best possible way.
“These difficult measures are necessary as a responsible resolution to an increasingly competitive industry landscape. We need to continue executing on our L3AD2020 programme to serve our global customers and markets as reliably and competitively as we do today.
“This does not in any way alter our conviction that our industry has very good long-term prospects with the great challenge of driving the clean energy transition.”
The company added that Denmark remains a key location as a “core competence hub for its worldwide activities”.
Siemens Gamesa said it will continue to focus on “high value-adding R&D activities”, such as product development and testing, technology innovation, and commercial activities, benefiting from its highly skilled and experienced workforce in Denmark.