Denmark : LM Glasfiber opens second turbine blade factory in Karnataka

LM Glasfiber continues to expand its global blade manufacturing capacity in key markets. it officially celebrated the grand opening of its new wind turbine blade factory in Dabaspet, Karnataka in India.

The new factory is expected to produce approximately 800 blades per year and create employment for approximately 400 people when ramp-up is completed.

Karnataka is a central area for the Indian wind energy market, and the Dabaspet location offers excellent logistical options, resources of trained manpower and a developed supplier base while the proximity to LM Glasfiber's Hoskote plant allows for significant synergies.

At the opening Thorbjørn N. Rasmussen, President of Vestas Asia Pacific said: "In 2006, the Indian wind energy market was the world's third largest and it is a market with a very large potential.

The opening today of the Dabaspet blade plant provides us with important blade capacity for V82-1.65MW wind turbines to execute on our growth strategy in India and enables us to tap into the future growth of the Indian and global markets."

In his inauguration speech, LM Glasfiber CEO Roland Sundén said: "I'm deeply impressed by India's strong commitment to wind power. At LM Glasfiber we are extremely proud to play an active role in this development together with our customers, and we are pleased to be able to trace our business relationship with Vestas in India all the way back to 1995 when we opened our first factory. We are happy to be reinforcing this long-lasting relationship today with the opening of our new factory."

The Dabaspet factory is LM Glasfiber's second blade manufacturing facility in India and the 11th worldwide, and it completes LM Glasfiber's 1GW 2007 capacity expansion programme including two new factories in Spain and China opened earlier this year.