stammering aswan: 200 jobs coming with turbine blade plant

WELLAND?-?

As many as 200 jobs will be coming to Welland after a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant opens as early as July.

?Yes, we?re coming to town,? said Helmut Herold, chief executive officer of Hamburg, Germany-based REpower Systems, during a Tuesday news conference at Welland Civic Square.

Herold said the company will be moving into the former Welland Pipe plant at 615 Rusholme Rd. to set up a facility to make wind turbine blades to supply projects throughout Ontario, western Canada and the U.S.

The new plant will be called PowerBlades Inc.

?It?s the first and only manufacturing facility of REpower in North America,? Herold said. ?It?s quite a big premier for us.?

Initially the company will manufacture 45-metre-long turbine blades with 125 employees, but in the months following, Herold said, the company plans to hire an additional 75 workers and manufacture 59-metre-long blades as well.

A job fair to hire the first 125 workers is taking place Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Job Gym at 225 East Main St.

Javier Martinez, REpower?s head of global blade manufacturing operations, said the company is looking for people with experience in metal working, plastic manufacturing and surface finishing.

?But we?re looking for any kind of skilled workers, to be honest,? he said. ?We know the industry is relatively young here in Canada, but ideally we?re looking for people with experience in composites or construction.

?Even if we don?t find people with the right specific skills, we are ready to train the people,? he added.

A team of seven to eight local people will also be hired to manage the new facility. The company will spend a few weeks in training at REpower manufacturing facilities in Germany and Portugal before returning to Welland to oversee operations, Martinez said.

In addition to the jobs being created at the plant itself, Herold said, the facility could create work for other local companies. For instance, he said, his company is in negotiations with TSB in Thorold to manufacture the towers the turbines will be mounted on.

?They are at the moment in the qualification process. They are one of the companies we?re looking at. In any case, it?s good news,? he said.

?If you put all this together, including small pieces we?re sourcing for the inside of the machine, you almost have 40% to 50% of the value coming out of Ontario,? Herold said, adding even the metal used to manufacture the blades will be produced in Ontario.

He said it is hoped that PowerBlades will produce blades for as many as 125 wind turbines a year once the plant is operational.

Martinez said he spent the past two years leading the company?s efforts to establish a facility in Welland, adding there were several reasons for choosing the city.

Welland, he explained, offers experienced and available workers, a suitable facility and access to highways, canal shipping and railways. City staff were also extremely helpful, he added.

?It?s an ideal location for the factory,? Martinez said, referring to the empty facility that was most recently home to a short-lived compost plant called Universal Resource Recovery that ceased operations in 2011.

?We are really excited with this project.?

Roy Timms from Timbro Construction said the new company has already led to employment for several of his workers who are renovating the facility just east of the Welland Canal.

Timms said he?s been able to call back three or four workers for a full complement of 25 workers who have been at the plant for the past few weeks. He also said two designers have been working on the project full time.

Welland economic development officer Dan Degazio said the company chose Welland ?because it?s a good place to do business.?

?The workforce is superior and so are the people,? he said.

Degazio called REpower a ?premier company.?

?This is not a one-trick pony. These guys have been in business for a lot of years, and they?re an established company. There?s a lot of credibility that comes with this company,? he added.

Mayor Barry Sharpe called the new plant ?a major step for all of Niagara to really prove that we are the Green Energy Capital of this country.?

He said he was encouraged to hear about the company?s long-term plans for the facility.

?It?s very significant. This will be REpower?s only North American manufacturing facility,? Sharpe said.

REpower Systems was founded in Europe in 2000, and set up its first Canadian offices in 2007. Its turbines are in use in several wind farm projects in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario.

allan.benner@sunmedia.ca

Tuesday, April 30, 2013