Siemens Gamesa Mothballs Offshore Nacelle Plant in Denmark

Siemens Gamesa is planning to pause the manufacturing of offshore nacelles at its plant in Brande, Denmark, citing delays in offshore wind projects as the reason.

This, combined with the discontinuation of the production of the onshore Direct Drive (DD) technology in Brande and onshore blade production in Aalborg, could potentially lead to the lay off of up to 600 employees in Denmark.

Offshore nacelle production at the Brande plant will hibernate during the FY20 and will be resumed in the fall of 2020, a spokesperson for Siemens Gamesa told Offshore WIND.

The production of offshore blades in Aalborg, along with the development, prototyping and testing of new blades, will resume normally.

The decision to discontinue the production of onshore Direct Drive (DD) technology in Brande and onshore blade production in Aalborg is part of Siemens Gamesa’s three-year strategic plan, with the L3AD2020 program, which includes a series of measures that will unlock EUR 2 billion of cost reductions.

“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,” said Andreas Nauen, Managing Director, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Denmark.

“These difficult measures are necessary as a responsible resolution to an increasingly competitive industry landscape. We need to continue executing on our L3AD2020 program to serve our global customers and markets as reliably and competitively as we do today.”

Negotiations with the local workers council are expected to start in October, and, once completed, information on the final agreements will be communicated.

Siemens Gamesa did not disclose the delays in which offshore wind projects led to the pausing of operations at the Brande plant.

However, as reported earlier this year, Vattenfall decided to postpone the construction of its Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord offshore wind farms after the Danish Energy Agency initiated new environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes for the projects.

The wind farms, now expected to enter the installation phase in 2023 instead of the planned 2020, will feature 41 Siemens Gamesa 8MW turbines.