The wind blades company of Les Coves presents an ERTE for 547 workers.

It is one of the most important and leading companies in the interior of Castellón and, at the moment, it is going through a delicate situation. LM Wind Power, based in Coves de Vinromà and dedicated to the manufacture of blades for electric wind turbines, has presented a temporary lay-off plan (ERTE) affecting 547 workers, almost 95% of its workforce. The plan will come into force on June 1 and, in principle, will be active until December 31.

The decision taken by the multinational General Electric, owner since 2017 of the Les Coves factory, is mainly due to organizational and production issues. LM Wind Power works at the Castellón factory with two types of molds for two different types of propellers and, as Mediterráneo has learned , orders for one of the blade models have been interrupted. This means that the company's workload has dropped by almost half. The worst thing is that the company's management does not expect orders to recover, at least, until the end of this year, so it has opted to file the ERTE.

Although LM Wind Power filed the layoff plan with the competent labor authority on May 4, the company still has a few days to finish providing the necessary documentation. In addition, the management is still negotiating with the workers' representatives on how to apply the ERTE so that it has the least possible impact. Apparently, among the options being considered is that, of the six months that the process will last, each employee will be active for three months, although it remains to be determined whether the professionals, most of whom are residents of the Plana Alta, will work in alternate weeks, fortnights or months .

A setback for the region

The ERTE of the shovel factory in Les Coves will undoubtedly be a blow to the region because, in addition to direct employment (the bulk of the workforce consists of engineers, technicians in polishing, sanding and finishing or specialized personnel in the resin infusion process), there are many small businesses in the area that work for the factory.

The company, which was set up in Castellón in 2007 , has manufactured more than 5,000 blades for onshore and offshore wind farms and the bulk of its production is exported through the port of Castelló. One of its latest milestones was the agreement reached a year ago with Capital Energy whereby LM Wind POwer has supplied propellers for the three wind farms of the energy company in Andalusia.

The company has already filed an ERE at the Ponferrada plant.

LM Wind Power, besides being a reference in Castellón, is also an outstanding company in the Valencian Community due to its high technological value. The company, in addition to its production plant in Coves de Vinromà, has a factory in the town of Ponferrada in Leon. There, in the summer of 2021, it already presented an ERE which affected almost 400 of its workers. The company offered to reduce this figure with transfers to the Castellón plant, although in the end less than ten employees accepted the proposal.

The ERE at the Leon plant, which exports 90% of its production to the United States, was triggered by Joe Biden's decision to impose tariffs on wind power companies because they sell at prices below the American market.

The Castellón plant also leads one of the 20 projects that aspire to obtain part of the European Union's reconstruction funds.