Vestas Wind Systems has secured an order to help produce 33 new turbines for a New Hampshire wind farm, a contract that experts say should help sustain work at its Windsor plant.
The Weld County operation, where the blades will be constructed, temporarily halted turbine work in December in light of weak sales.
“The turbines will maximize the project’s wind resource, providing clean reliable electricity . . . for New England,” according to a news release issued Thursday.
Vestas officials did not return phone calls to provide details about the price tag of the new deal with Granite Reliable Power Windpark in New Hampshire.
The turbines will not go into production until 2011.
This is the second major deal the Denmark-based manufacturer has struck with a New Eng land firm. Vestas supplied 22 turbines for another project in Maine that began operation in October.
The new agreement, according to economic-development experts, should help restore production activity at the Wind sor plant.
In recent months, the facility’s 500 employees have been assigned to training, maintenance and other jobs.
“They’ve been retooling it (the Windsor division) to accommodate the production of a larger blade,” said Larry Burkhardt, president of Upstate Colorado Economic Development in Weld County.
“This is definitely good for the facility and that area,” said Laura Brandt, manager of economic development for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Vestas, the world’s largest wind-turbine manufacturer, has invested about $1 billion in the construction of four Colorado plants, including two in Brighton and one in Pueblo, which started up last year.
More than 2,500 employees are expected to work at the facilities.
In January, Vestas officials announced another deal with a Canadian utility company for production of 18 turbines for a New Brunswick wind farm.
