€260M wind turbine investment for Aveiro
The South Korean renewable energy company CS Wind ASM, which specialises in eolic wind turbines is to invest €260 million to 2025 at its factory in Ílhavo where it has a 200 metre private quayside.
The goal is to triple energy production capacity from its eolic towers and offshore infrastructures at industrial premises occupied by the group in the Port of Aveiro.
It is the largest project in the country, which is included in a portfolio of 26 investment contracts which had been approved by the Portuguese government on Wednesday, and which will see 2021 rounded off with a record overseas investment value of €2.7Bn contracted by the Portuguese foreign investment agency AICEP.
The group was bought out by CS Wind last summer — the largest manufacturer of eolic wind towers in the world. CS Wind ASM purchased a 60% controlling share in Portugal’s ASM Industries for €46.5 million. The company will now benefit from a tax sweetener worth €16.6 million and estimates that it will take on around 400 staff to 2025.
The offshore unit currently has a production capacity of less than 100 wind turbines per year manufactured from a 72,000 metres factory in the area known as the Port of Aveiro Industrial and Logistics Activities Zone (ZALI) which is in the Ílhavo district.
The group also has a factory in Sever do Vouga, which annually produces around 200 onshore towers, to install on land-based eolic wind parks.
In Ílhavo a 200 metre private quayside was built for CS Wind ASM, which is the only one nationally dedicated to offshore equipment cargo. The first ship docked at the quay on 26 December to unload 12 components for the aeolic towers and will be a strategic hub for the offshore industry. The port authority plan to increase the length of the quayside to 1000 metres.
CS Wind ASM employs 350 staff of which 140 work at this new unit in the port area. The company expects to enjoy a turnover of €100 million in 2022.
It exports 99% of its production to Europe and some countries in Latin America such as Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The company’s CEO in Portugal is Adelino Costa Matos who is now a minority shareholder.