LM Wind Power hiring 300 as part of Bergama blade plant expansion

Wind turbine blade designer and manufacturer LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy business, has announced plans to recruit 300 new employees at its Bergama, Turkey plant.

LM Wind Power has already hired 40 of the additional 300 employees, who are now undergoing training. The company plans to employ about 200 people in 2019 and add a further 100 jobs in 2020, in what will bring the total workforce in Bergama to 700 employees in 2020.

Approximately 95% of new hiring is blue collar workers and the remaining 5% is primarily engineering positions.

“We are seeking employees working in the field of grinding and composite materials who have used manual skills in their previous work. After employees start to work, they will receive training in our ‘Center of Excellence’ in a six-week training course consisting of fix modules. In addition to engineering positions, we prefer industrial and mechanical engineers,” the company said in an emailed statement.

LM Wind Power will continue to post vacancy announcements as positions become available, according to the statement. For updates, visit Balkan Green Energy News’ Jobs page.

Bergama plant’s expansion expected to be completed by Q3

The new jobs were announced as the company held a groundbreaking event in Bergama on April 25 to expand the factory’s production capacities, primarily in wind turbine blade post-molding.

The expansion is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2019, allowing LM Wind Power to respond to the growing global demand for wind power by exporting blades to markets worldwide, including in Europe and Asia, according to the company’s website.

Inaugurated under a USD 50 million investment in July 2017 with plans to manufacture and distribute an annual capacity of 500 MW and the capability to expand to 1.5 GW, the Bergama facility became LM Wind Power’s 15th factory and the first opened after the company became a GE Renewable Energy business. Today the site counts 450 employees.

LM Wind Power’s global manufacturing footprint includes blade factories in Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, India, Poland, Spain, and the United States. The company has produced more than 195,000 blades since 1978, corresponding to more than 84 GW installed capacity and global savings of more than 166 million tons of CO2 annually.