LM Wind Power

LM Wind Power logo

LM Wind Power (formerly LM Glasfiber^[3]) is the world's largest independent supplier of rotor blades to the wind industry.^[4] LM Wind Power has produced more than 185,000 blades since 1978, corresponding to approximately 77 GW installed wind power capacity which each year effectively saves approximately 147 million tons of CO2. This corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions from electricity used in 20 million (US) homes. ^[5]

History

LM Wind Power was founded in 1940 as Lunderskov Møbelfabrik (Lunderskov furniture factory) in the small town Lunderskov, Denmark. In 1952 they investigated the possibilities of commercial exploitation of glass fiber technology, which made them change their name to LM Glasfiber and abandon their original plan of manufacturing wooden furniture. It wasn't until 1978 that they started making wind turbine blades.^[6] The first set of LM Glasfiber blades was installed on the Windmatic wind turbine,^[7] in Scottish waters near the Orkney Islands, during the 1970s.^[8]

In 2010, the company name was changed from LM Glasfiber to LM Wind Power, to better reflect the industry in which they operate.^[3] LM Wind Power Group was launched with the formation of three separate divisions – LM Wind Power Blades, LM Wind Power Service & Logistics and Svendborg Brakes.^[6] In 2013, Svendborg Brakes was sold to Altra Holdings Inc.^[6][9]

LM Wind Power joined the UN Global Compact in 2010, signifying their commitment to the compact's ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.^[10] Since then, they have reported their performance in the annual report non-financial highlights section and in a more detailed document submitted as the annual Communication on Progress for the UN Global Compact.^[11] LM Wind Power applies the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework for guidance and structure.^[11]

Achievements

During the COP15 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) held December 7-18, 2009, an LM 61.5 P blade was installed at the main entrance of the Bella Center to greet conference delegates. This blade, developed mainly for offshore projects off the coast of Germany, Scotland and Belgium, was the world’s longest wind turbine blade in serial production at the time.^[12]

On 11 June 2010, LM Wind Power took part in setting an aviation record. They commissioned the An-225 to carry the world's longest piece of air cargo, as it flew two new 42-meter wind turbine blades from their factory in Tianjin, China to their test facility in Lunderskov, Denmark.^[13]

In 2011, LM Wind Power produced the world's largest wind turbine blade at the time — 73.5 meters, which is equivalent to a 24-story building.^[14] The LM 73.5P wind turbine blades were installed on Alstom's 6 MW wind turbines offshore, mainly in European waters.^[15] These giant blades reach speeds of more than 320 km/h, generating power equivalent to the yearly requirements of over 6000 European households.^[14]

Global Footprint

Since the establishment of LM Wind Power in 1940 as Lunderskov Møbelfabrik in Lunderskov, Denmark,^[6] the company has expanded to locations worldwide, while remaining headquartered in Denmark.^[16]

LM Wind Power established its first factory in the Americas region in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1998. This investment was followed by two other factories in Gaspé, Quebec, Canada in 2006^[17] and Little Rock, Arkansas in 2008.^[18][19]

Built in 2002, LM Wind Power’s factory in Goleniów, Poland was the company’s largest factory at that time.^[20] In the same year, the company also expanded its operations in China and increased its production capacity in Denmark.^[20]

The 2007 opening of LM Wind Power's Dobespet factory marked the company's second blade manufacturing facility in India and 11th worldwide at the time.^[21] Earlier that year, the company also opened new factories in Spain and China.^[21]

In October 2012, LM Wind Power confirmed its plans to construct its first blade manufacturing facility in Brazil, in conjunction with the company’s joint venture partner Eólice.^[22] The factory was built in the port of Suape, to serve major wind farms in the North East of Brazil and beyond.^[22] In September 2015 LM Wind Power announced the signing of an agreement with its joint venture partner to purchase the remaining interest in LM Wind Power do Brasil S.A. ^[23]

In April 2016 LM Wind Power announced the inauguration of its second Indian plant, located in Vadodara, Gujarat. Customers, business partners and local dignitaries joined in on the event which is a strong signal of the company’s growth in the important Indian market as well as a celebration of a highly efficient ramp up to production. The plant, which was announced in November 2015, began producing wind turbine blades a full month ahead of schedule. ^[24]

Organization

LM Wind Power employs approximately 6,332 employees worldwide (end 2015).^[25] The company is headquartered in Kolding, Denmark and has a global business office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. LM Wind Power has built production facilities in the major wind energy markets – 14 locations in 8 countries (Denmark, Spain, USA, Canada, India, China, Poland, and Brazil). In addition to this, the company has a global network of R&D centers in Denmark, the Netherlands and India.

Ownership

The principal shareholders of LM Wind Power are the partnerships by Doughty Hanson & Co. Ltd,^[26] who in October 2016 agreed to sell LM for €1.5 billion to GE Renewable Energy during 2017.^[27]

References

External links

• LM Wind Power , official website

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