Siemens Gamesa lands Texas wind farm contract

FORT MADISON - The Siemens Gamesa wind blade facility in Fort Madison was given good news this week as Champion Wind, a 127 megawatt wind farm in Texas, announced that it is going to repower the farm, which will require 41 new turbines including nacelles and blades. Those blades will be manufactured in Ft. Madison.
The wind farm is run by RWE, the third largest renewable energy company in the U.S. They signed an agreement with electric car manufacturer Rivian, and Champion Wind will help supply Rivian’s fast-charging network with 100% renewable energy.
Replacing nacelles and blades on an existing wind farm is known as “repowering”. This practice revitalizes existing wind farms: extending the operational life, increasing the power production, and reducing the levelized cost of energy. Repowering is a significant growth area for Siemens Gamesa in North America.
When the wind farm is repowered, it will provide enough electric vehicle energy to power one billion miles.
The Fort Madison facility was also informed that they were named the Site of the Year within Siemens Energy in North America for 2024.
Siemens Gamesa’s facility in Ft. Madison has produced 21,000 onshore wind turbine blades since it opened in 2007. The plant currently employs 250 people and Siemens Gamesa is actively recruiting to grow capacity in this location in the coming months. They make fiberglass blades for two different onshore wind turbine designs – each one more than 200 feet long. 
The Fort Madison facility will produce 141 blades for the Champion Wind project.
Siemens Gamesa will also be looking to add up to 200 more employees in the near future.
RWE has also contracted with Iowa company REGEN Fiber, which takes decommissioned wind blades and repurposes them for the construction industry.