Rosatom, a Russian company, has opened a new wind turbine blade manufacturing facility to replace Vestas.

The governor of Russia’s Ulyanovsk Region said that Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation of Russia, has opened a factory for wind turbine blades at the site of an old Vestas plant.

Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer that produces blades for wind farms near Ulyanovsk, closed the plant in 2022. It left Russia 2023 with all its assets.

After the start of the conflict in Ukraine the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia have isolated Russia from Western technologies, components and the renewable energy sector.

Last April, Russian Deputy Premier Alexander Novak stated that Russia would be able in 2-3 years to replace foreign producers of equipment for wind farm that had left the market.

Rosatom, the biggest investor in wind energy in Russia, announced that at full capacity, the plant will be able to produce 450 blades a year.

Interfax reported that Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said the plant in Ulyanovsk could also export blades, such as for its project in Kyrgyzstan where it intends to build a 1 gigawatt wind farm. (Reporting Anastasia Lyrchikova, Writing Anastasia Teterevleva, Editing Guy Faulconbridge and Alexandra Hudson).

(source: Reuters)