GE plans to expand Canadian wind blade factory

GE Renewable Energy, the Canadian government and the government of Québec province are investing an undisclosed amount in the expansion of a wind turbine blade factory in the east of the country.

They plan to expand GE subsidiary LM Wind Power’s factory in Gaspé, Québec, creating about 200 skilled jobs. These new jobs will add to the approximately 380 people currently working at the factory.

The additional jobs will be in both production and support roles, a GE spokesman told Windpower Monthly.

GE plans to grow the plant to meet rising demand for renewable energy across North America, it explained. It is not clear whether this anticipated growth is just in the US, or also covers Canada.

GE is the turbine supplier for more than 15GW of US wind farms yet to enter commercial operations, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly. Meanwhile, it has no outstanding Canadian orders in the Windpower Intelligence database.

The Gaspé expansion is due to start in the third quarter of 2021 and should be completed in about a year, a GE spokesman advised.

Since the Gaspé facility opened in 2005, more than 10,000 blades – enough to fit about 6GW of turbines – have been manufactured there. It was previously expanded in 2017.