Vestas turbine factory staff at risk of redundancy
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | BBC News |
| Year of publication | 2024 December 11 |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Digital Note: Copyright restrictions mean the attachment below only contains part of the publication. The full document is available for inspection at the Mills Archive Research and Education Centre. |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | Generation of Electricity > Wind farms |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Staff at the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have been told they are at risk of redundancy. The 600-strong workforce at the Newport site have been warned up to half could lose their jobs as demand for the blades they make comes to an end. Vestas said, after a deal with the UK government to manufacture onshore blades, it planned to repurpose the site and offer jobs to 300 staff. A consultation has started and the outcome will be announced in January 2025. The factory, which currently manufactures offshore turbine blades, opened in 2002 but modern blades are about 50% larger than the ones produced in Newport and the site cannot be adapted. Vestas said it had reached an agreement in principle with the UK government to produce blades for the UK's onshore wind farms which would allow it to repurpose the factory and save around half the jobs. It comes after the government lifted a ban on onshore wind as part of its clean energy plans. The Danish firm added that "a significant number" of staff would also be offered the opportunity to relocate to its other sites. |
| Web URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70ewlzny40o |
