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| New wind turbine manufacturing plant To help GE Energy meet the robust worldwide demand for wind turbines, Molded Fiber Glass Companies (MFG) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new wind turbine manufacturing plant in Aberdeen, South Dakota that will manufacture blades for GE's 1.5-megawatt machine, one of the most widely used wind turbines in the world. The new facility will be owned by the Aberdeen Development Corporation (ADC), and leased and operated by Molded Fiber Glass Companies (MFG), representing a $40 million investment and the creation of up to 750 new jobs. The facility will also enable MFG to increase the volume of wind turbine blade sets being supplied to GE Energy, starting in 2008. "GE currently has over 6,500 1.5-megawatt wind turbines in operation worldwide. By the end of 2008, we expect that number to exceed 10,000 units", said Victor Abate, Vice President-Renewables for GE Energy. " The new MFG facility in Aberdeen will significantly increase the manufacturing capacity of our supply chain, as we continue to face strong demand for wind turbines in the U.S. and worldwide." "Today's groundbreaking represents a new milestone in the commercial relationship between MFG and GE Energy", said Richard Morrison, CEO of MFG. "We are pleased to continue supporting GE's efforts in the wind energy industry, which is experiencing unprecedented growth around the world. We are also grateful to the team in the Governor's Office of Economic Development and their hard work to make this happen in South Dakota." "We applaud MFG and GE for bringing new jobs to our region", said South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds. "It makes good business sense for a leader in the wind industry like GE to have its wind blades manufactured in the heart of North America's best wind energy resource." Illustrating the wind industry's current level of activity, in recent weeks GE Energy has announced agreements totaling nearly $1.5 billion to supply wind turbines for projects in the U.S. and Europe that will total more than a gigawatt of new wind power capacity. With a 500% increase in wind turbine production since 2004, GE expects its wind business revenues to exceed $4 billion this year. Over the past two years, GE has supplied wind turbines representing more than 50% of the new wind capacity across the U.S. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |