Vestas Wind Systems, LM Wind Power, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and Nordex have reopened factories in Spain after the government relaxed lockdown measures.It was previously predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic would have negative effects on wind supply chains, with developers expected to undergo delays due to lockdown-related restrictions. Thus, these major companies getting back to business is a sign of a desperate attempt to protect matters from worsening further, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Somik Das, Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The annual installed capacity for wind in Spain, at the end of 2019, stood at, 2.3GW, by the end of 2020, it is expected to be 1.7 GW. The total cumulative wind installed capacity in 2019 was 25.9GW which is expected to accumulate to 27.6GW by the end of 2020.”

Danish company Vestas Wind Systems restarted full production at its Viveiro site in mid-April, while its factory at Daimiel also resumed operations at near full capacity. Meanwhile, blade maker LM Wind Power also restarted operations at its sites in Ponferrada and Castellon, and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy resumed operations after the Easter holidays in Lerma, Burgos, San Fernando, Somozas, Ágreda and Sigueiro, Asteasu, Mungia, Valencia, Cuenca, Aoiz and Reinosa. Germany’s Nordex SE also reopened its Spanish sites at the start of April after temporarily closing them on March 30. The company restarted operations at its production facility in Chennai, India, as well, with limited capacity on April 6.

Das concludes: “These manufacturers have resumed operations adhering to the government guidelines and have undertaken strict measures such as social distancing, frequent spraying of disinfectant to clean surroundings, compulsory protective gear for workforce and allocation of shifts. These events indicate that the primary efforts of the major players in the sector are to limit the damage that has been caused by the pandemic. Also if the performance of the sector needs to be improved in the second half of the year, then these major players would need to get back in business at the earliest.”