LM Wind Power to close Little Rock wind blade plant

 

LM Wind Power (Kolding, Denmark) has announced that it will close its wind blade manufacturing plant at the Port of Little Rock, Ark., U.S. later this year amid declining demand for the product made there.

As reported by ArkansasBusiness.com, the decision to close was not related to the COVID-19 outbreak. GE Renewable Energy (Paris, France), which acquired LM Wind Power in 2016, said it would provide the plant's 470 workers with a minimum of four months pay.

GE operates another LM Wind Power plant in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which will remain open. Both Little Rock and Grand Forks make 44.1-meter-long wind turbine blades. However, Grand Forks also makes larger, 62.2-meter-long blades. As reported in a March 2020 Scientific American article, “Since 2009, the average swept area of a turbine has doubled, thanks to 20% longer blades … That has allowed today’s turbines to capture more of the wind that flows past, making them far more efficient and slashing the cost of their energy by as much as 50% on wholesale markets.” Researchers believe this trend could continue to drive future growth in the industry.

LM Wind Power, previously known as LM Glasfiber, opened its $150 million North American headquarters at the Port of Little Rock in 2008. Executives originally projected employing as many as 1,000 workers within five years of opening. As of 2016, the site employed roughly 450 people. "We appreciate all that LM has done while here and wish GE the best as they go forward,” said Jay Chesshir, executive director of the Little Rock Regional Chamber. “Hopefully, we'll find another project that we can work with them on at some point in the future.”