Vestas is planning to scale down production of V136 blades and invest in other types, such as V117 and V150 models, resulting in about 590 job losses in Germany and Denmark.
The Danish manufacturer said its facilities in Lauchhammer, Germany, and in Lem, Denmark, will be impacted by the changes.
“Vestas continues to produce blades for its 2MW and 4MW platforms in Europe, while preparing to develop the current and future EnVentus blade variants,” the company said.
“With the adjustment, we seek to ensure our ability to deliver the right products at the right time at the right cost to our global customer base,” it added.
The Lauchhammer factory will continue to produce V117 blades and Vestas plans to upgrade the blade moulds, while limited production of V136 blades will continue.
About 500 hourly-paid employees – 170 third-party employees and 330 temporary workers – will lose their jobs, representing a 50% reduction in the number of employees at the factory.
Vestas said that Germany remains a “key market”, with more than 14GW of installed turbines, 11GW under service and more than 2300 employees after the intended workforce reduction.
In Denmark approximately 90 hourly-paid employees, corresponding to around 12% of the Lem facility’s workforce, will lose their jobs.
V136 blade production will cease in Denmark as part of the scale-down, Vestas said.
However, it said “Lem will remain the hub of Vestas’ blade innovation and will continue producing all blade prototypes and test blades for the entire Vestas product portfolio, production of blade moulds and introduction of new blade variants to the market”.
Vestas chief operating officer Jean-Marc Lechene said: “Today’s very competitive industry and the fast-moving energy transition means we must introduce new products and solutions where and when the market requires them.
“Our continued competitiveness in this environment means we must adjust our global manufacturing footprint to ensure we proactively manage our cost base and invest in new solutions to capture future growth.
“We’re pleased that our new EnVentus and 4MW platform solutions are very well-received by our customers all over the world, but the resulting manufacturing changes mean we must unfortunately let go of good, hardworking colleagues.”
Vestas employed more than 24,500 people globally, as of 30 June 2019,