Siemens Gamesa is closing its blade manufacturing plant in Tillsonburg in Ontario with the immediate loss of 206 jobs.
The company said the closure will be conducted in stages during the rest of year and will affect the remaining 134 employees.
It said the decision to close the facility is the result of “significant changes in the global and regional markets, combined with physical limitations at the existing plant”.
The current blade market requires larger units and the Tillsonburg plant “cannot easily be adapted to manufacture this product portfolio”, Siemens Gamesa said.
“The significant investments necessary to bring the plant in line with current market requirements would result in costs that could not be competitive in the global markets,” the company added.
In addition, the market in eastern Canada has suffered a big reduction in demand for blades in the last year and the export market into the US has been delayed by several factors, such as uncertainty over tax policy, it said.
Image: Siemens Gamesa
Siemens Gamesa shuts blade plant
All 340 employees at Tillsonburg factory in Ontario will be impacted
By EBS