Green Energy Job Loss Crisis: ‘wind blade market isn’t what it was’

GE Vernova unit LM Wind Power reportedly delivers downbeat assessment of market prospects as it lays ground for job cuts.

GE Vernova’s LM Wind Power subsidiary told employees the market for blades “simply isn’t what it used to be” and the race for larger turbines “has stopped” in a gloom-laden message accompanying news of planned job cuts.

The comments by management at Denmark-based LM Wind Power to workers in its home market came as it said two-thirds of its Danish work force are set to go, it was reported.

A letter to staff included a number of grim statements to explain the move, said specialist publication Ingenioren, which first revealed its contents.

The blade maker’s staff were told, according to the Danish outlet:

  • “The market for blades is simply not what it used to be. Customers have canceled orders and/or shifted volume to internal factories.”
  • Customers will not pay prices that allow it “to operate a sustainable and profitable business”.
  • “The technology race for larger turbines/blades has stopped.”

No further details were given about whether the final point refers specifically to LM and its parent group GE Vernova, or to the wider market.

Western manufacturers – including GE Vernova with its Haliade-X offshore turbine that has a maximum 250-metre rotor – have been notably cautious about further scaling up their machines. Chinese OEMs have, however, over the last two years announced a string of massive new models with rotors as large as 310 metres.

Third-party western blade makers also face competition from China, whose globetrotting player Aeolon Technology is already supplying European OEMs from Morocco and is talking about opening a factory in Poland.

Tough year for blade maker

The downbeat tone adopted by LM Wind in Denmark – where the workforce will reportedly shrink to just 31 – comes after the company said it is ending production at a Brazil factory earlier this year, placing 1,000 jobs at risk, due to declining demand.

The company, which supplies GE Vernova and external customers, has also recently sold one of its factories in Poland to Vestas, where the latter will make its own onshore wind blades.

Former CEO Hanif Mashal left in September after several damaging self-inflicted missteps by LM Wind Power.

Last year, staff were fired or suspended at LM Wind’s factory in Quebec, Canada, amid reports that evidence had been discovered of falsified data.
Those reports emerged after a blade from the factory broke and fell into the sea at the Vineyard Wind project in the US. The project was later ordered to remove all blades produced at the Canada factory from turbines that had been installed.
Parent group GE Vernova did not comment further on the reported remarks by LM Wind Power’s management when approached for comment by Recharge.
GE Vernova has been looking at restructuring options across its European operations that unions have warned could lead to hundreds of job losses.
An LM Wind spokesperson said in a statement sent to Recharge: “In light of market conditions, we presented a proposal to reduce the size of our LM Wind Power workforce in Denmark. This was part of a wider proposal on which we have recently completed consultation with our European Works Council.

“However, consultation with local employee representatives remains ongoing and no final decisions will be taken until such time as this local process has come to an end.”

The spokesperson added: “In the event that any job actions are taken following this consultation, we will provide appropriate support to any potentially impacted employees as together we navigate through this difficult time.”

source  www.rechargenews.com

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Comments (1)

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    very old white guy

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    It is time to stop building the useless things. Then start tearing them all down and using the land for growing food.

    Reply

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