Vestas plans to temporarily close its blade-manufacturing plant in Windsor, Colorado, and force as many as 500 employees to stay home during the first half of 2010, as it waits for turbine demand to bounce back in the US. Vestas had originally committed to building four factories in Colorado.

Vestas spokesman Andrew Longeteig insists there will be no permanent layoffs, and adds that the company is "in it for the long haul" when it comes to manufacturing turbine components in the US.

"There has been tight credit and slowing orders," he said. "It is a temporary setback."

Also hurting sales have been lower natural-gas prices, which make gas-powered electric turbines more attractive, company officials said.

The Windsor blade factory was the first Vestas facility in Colorado, and the company's original target was to have 1,350 workers at the plant.

Vestas is investing $1 billion in four Colorado plants. The tower factory in Pueblo is just starting up. Two plants in Brighton are scheduled to open in 2010.

In its third-quarter financial results, published in October, the company admitted that it was slowing its US expansion due to worse-than-expected economic conditions and sluggish demand for turbines.

“At the moment, the US market is characterised by excess capacity, which results in non-attractive prices and conditions on certain projects,” it says. “The upgrading of the staff at the new factories in the US will consequently take place in line with the order intake.”

Source: Vestas

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