Wind News

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Vestas said it would consider return to the UK if the onshore wind market picked up

Over four hundred workers at the Vestas wind turbine operations on the Isle of Wight and Southampton were dismissed today (August 12) as the company closed its only UK manufacturing facilities.

The Danish company said that it was ceasing its blade production activities following more than three months of negotiations with employees and their representatives.

As a result, 425 employees have been made redundant, while another 40 have been given work at Vestas' research and development plant nearby, which the company will keep open with the help of a prospective government grant of £6 million announced last month (see this New Energy Focus story). A further 57 workers will continue to work at the factory to assist in its closure.

Ole Borup Jakobsen, president of Vestas Blades, said: "The decision to close the factory was very difficult and we fully recognise the impact this will have on employees, their families and on the Isle of Wight. Nonetheless, this commercial decision was absolutely necessary to secure Vestas' competitiveness and create a regional balance between production and the demand for wind turbines."

Vestas blamed a weak onshore wind market in the UK and Northern Europe for the decision to close the plant, and confirmed that it was shifting resources across to the United States, which it perceives as a more promising market.

Specifically it pointed the finger at the UK local planning system, which it described as an obstacle to a healthy onshore wind industry and the reason that all the blades produced in the Isle of Wight plant in recent years had been exported to the United States.

This, the firm said, had a serious impact on the future of the Isle of Wight factory.

Furthermore, plans to convert production at the factory to a blade type more suitable for the UK market were discontinued "due to the current unfavourable market conditions caused by the credit crunch, weak currencies and a lack of political support at local level", the company explained.

Solidarity

The news of the closure came on the same day as a national day of action organised by grass roots supporters, in solidarity with the factory's workers and supported by the Rail Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT).

From the outset, job losses have been at the forefront of much of the controversy surrounding the closure, with protestors calling for government aid to salvage the Isle of Wight's employment levels.

Friday saw six employees removed by bailffs, after a 19 day sit-in protest ended.

But the government has resisted calls to nationalise the factory, instead blaming the poor onshore wind market on Conservative councils, which Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said were responsible for blocking 70% of wind turbine applications (see this New Energy Focus story).

Even so, the manufacturer today reiterated its claim that it would consider reinvesting in the UK market if it developed into a strong and stable market.

In a statement it said: "A large and stable market or onshore wind power is vital to secure a stable production flow. Vestas is, as ever, ready to work with all relevant political parties to secure a long-term sustainable market for onshore wind power in the UK."