USA - Nordex begins production at Arkansas plant

Today marks the official start of production at Nordex’s newly built wind turbine manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The plant’s first production crew will go to work this morning assembling a wind turbine nacelle, which houses the engine and other key components and sits high atop the turbine tower.

“Two years ago, we announced our intention to make Nordex wind turbines in the US, for the US,” said Ralf Sigrist, President and CEO of Nordex USA, Inc. “Today we’re putting our hands to the metal and doing it. We hope Congress will do the same,” he added, “by finally passing meaningful renewable energy legislation.”

The first Jonesboro production crew, hired earlier this year, just completed a 10-week intensive training program at Nordex’s flagship plant in Rostock, Germany. Training will continue during the early phase of production, with the team’s German counterparts now taking up residence in Jonesboro for several months to work alongside their new colleagues.

“There’s no way to do this without international exchange,” said Joe Brenner, Vice President of Production for Nordex. “Wind energy has tremendous potential in the US, but it’s about more than just creating green jobs. We have to transfer expertise in order to build a wind industry workforce. Nordex is investing in such a workforce and bringing the needed skills to America.”

Nordex broke ground on its manufacturing plant last September, completing construction in July of this year. The company has hired 150 employees in the US to date, including 42 in Jonesboro, and has plans to employ up to 1000 nationally over four to five years. About 80% of the workforce in Jonesboro are locals. Construction on a second facility for assembling rotor blades is also planned for the future.

Press information:
Nordex will hold a Grand Opening ceremony celebrating the completion of the plant and the start of production on Friday, October 29. The public is invited to an Open House at 4:00 pm, when progress on the work begun today will be on display. For further details, please check the Nordex website closer to the date at www.nordex-online.com.

For downloadable images, please visit the webpage for this press release on the Nordex website at www.nordex-online.com.

Nordex - a profile:
As a technological leader among suppliers of megawatt turbines, Nordex benefits particularly from the global trend towards large-scale wind turbines. The product range includes one of the largest series wind power systems in the world (N80/N90/N100, 2,500 kW) with more 1,300 of these turbines having been produced to date. This means that Nordex has a crucial edge in terms of experience in operating large turbines compared to most of its competitors in the sector. Overall, Nordex has installed a more than 4,200 turbines with a capacity in excess of 6,000 MW around the world. With exports accounting for over 95 percent of its business, Nordex also has a strong position in international high-growth regions. The company has offices and subsidiaries in 18 countries. In total, the Group employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.

US press contact: CNC - Communications & Network Consulting (US) Inc., Felice Ahn, Phone: +1 (212) 207-3182, Mobile: +1 (917) 916-6468, Email: Felice.Ahn@cnc-communications.com

European press contact: Nordex SE, Ralf Peters, Phone: + 49 (0) 40 / 300 30 - 1000, Fax: - 1333

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