Tillsonburg, Ont. gets new wind turbine blade factory
Canadian Plastics
Research & Development Sustainability Energy Efficiency/Conservation Plastics: Design Sustainable Development Strategies, Goals and PoliciesThe small southwestern Ontario town of Tillsonburg, hard hit by job losses at a plastics plant last year, is on track to get hundreds of jobs next year when a new wind turbine blade factory sets up shop.
The small southwestern Ontario town of Tillsonburg, hard hit by job losses at a plastics plant last year, is on track to get hundreds of jobs next year when a new wind turbine blade factory sets up shop.
The factory, owned by German manufacturer Siemens, could create an estimated 900 jobs in the Tillsonburg area, including 300 direct jobs in the plant and up to 600 more in related work like construction.
Hundreds of workers were let go from Tillsonburg’s DDM Plastics plant last year when the auto parts maker announced a shut down.
The new Siemens factory also has a tie to the auto industry: it used to belong to car parts maker Magna International. Opened by Magna in 1975, the 253,000-square-foot facility sits on 40 acres of land. Under Siemens, it will make blades for many of the wind turbines that will eventually help supply 600 megawatts of renewable energy to Ontario under premier Dalton McGuinty’s Green Energy Act.
According to Siemens, it chose Tillsonburg because it has access to major highways and wide roads to transport the blades, which can measure up to 53 metres long.
The town, 170 kilometres southwest of Toronto, is also relatively close to a wind farm in Lakeshore, Ont., near Windsor.
According to Siemens, renovations to the Tillsonburg facility will begin in late December, and it is expected to be ready for production by October 2011.