GE Renewable Energy has officially inaugurated the LM Wind Power blade factory in Cherbourg, France.
The facility will combine the manufacture of 107-metre long blades for the Haliade-X 12MW offshore wind turbine and other blade models for its customers in France and abroad.
Production started in early 2019 and five blades have already been delivered for the prototype test phases of the Haliade-X.
The Cherbourg plant currently employs more than 260 people but GE plans to double the workforce to eventually reach nearly 550 employees.
GE invested more than €120m in the factories at Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire.
GE Renewable Energy president and chief executive Jerome Pecresse said: “I am very happy and proud to inaugurate today our new LM Wind Power plant in Cherbourg which, with our site in Saint-Nazaire, makes GE the first player industrial wind turbine at sea in France.
“We are pleased that Cherbourg can become the French showcase for real know-how in the manufacture of long blades.
“This plant will be truly international in scope with the recent export success of our new Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine.”