Vestas has announced its wind-turbine towers will be manufactured by CS Wind in Ontario for future wind-energy projects in the province. Essar Steel Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, will provide the steel for the tower sections. Meanwhile, the towers will be made at CS Wind at its new tower-fabrication facility in Windsor that celebrated its grand opening May 26. At the CS Wind facility steel plates will be rolled, formed, shaped, welded together, and then transported to wind-energy projects in Ontario. The factory is expected to deliver its first tower to Vestas in November 2011.
“The Vestas Towers business unit has created a tremendous opportunity for us to be working with such experienced and trusted manufacturers in Ontario,” says Martha Wyrsch, president of Vestas-Canadian Wind Technology, Inc. “This provides Vestas with a tremendous sense of confidence going forward in the Ontario wind-power market.”
Vestas aims to work with local manufacturers such as CS Wind and Essar Steel Algoma to meet local-content requirements and help grow the Canadian wind-energy market. As the number-one automaker in North America, and second only to California in industrial output, Ontario has a broad and rich manufacturing base from which to draw.
“This is an exciting time and opportunity for CS Wind and for Windsor,” says Sandra Pupatello, minister of economic development and trade minister, and also Windsor MPP. “These types of partnerships with both a turbine provider and a tower manufacturer show the extent that the renewable energy sector reaches into our economy.”
Vestas, which has a sales office in Toronto, had its first wind turbine installed in the Ontario market in 2001. Vestas has 232 turbines in operation in the province for a total of 390 MW, enough to power more than 100,000 homes in Ontario. Vestas also provides service and maintenance to ensure safe, reliable operations of its wind turbines throughout Canada. Vestas has supplied more than 1,000 turbines in all 10 Canadian provinces—1,683 MW of installed wind capacity—which provides enough electricity to power more than a half-million homes. More information is available at www.vestas.com.
