Denmark’s LM Wind Power (Lunderskov; www.lmwindpower.com) and its associate company Eolice Participações e Investimentos (São José dos Campos / Brazil) – a manufacturer of turbines – have announced plans to build a rotor blade plant in Brazil’s Pernambuco state. The state’s provincial government reports that investment in the project will amount to about USD 50m.

Speaking to Plasteurope.com, a spokeswoman for LM Wind Power confirmed that the company was engaged in talks on the Suape plant, to be located in the easternmost part of Brazil, clarifying that the Danish group had signed a letter of intent and secured the necessary land. Citing company sources, the Bloomberg news agency reports that manufacture of 50 metre blades is to begin in mid-2013.

The investment coincides with a boom in Brazil’s wind energy market, demand for which local manufacturers are unable to meet. To date, about 40% of all rotor blades are imported and LM Wind Power currently supplies Brazil from its plants in China and the US. Construction is currently underway in the vicinity of the proposed plant, where suppliers are establishing production facilities for related equipment, including flanges, turbines and pylons.