C&F Group creates 250 jobs with wind turbine plan
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- Category: Wind
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19 May 2009
- Published on Tuesday, 19 May 2009 13:30
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Company logo of C&F Group. Image sourced from the C&F Group.The C&F Manufacturing Group will be entering the renewable energy market by designing and manufacturing wind turbines from the company’s headquarters in Galway, Ireland. This new venture will create 250 jobs, according to a report from the Irish Times.
The company will invest €20 million over the next four years to expand its manufacturing facility in Athenry, Galway by 70,000 square feet. The new jobs will be in the areas of design, engineering, manufacturing, management, sales, and after-sales. This expansion will bring the workforce of the company to around 1,300 employees across five countries.
The company will use a breakthrough technology to develop and manufacture wind turbines which can generate wind power in lower wind speeds than existing technology. The conventional turbines generate power from wind speeds of 3.5 meters per second. C&F’s turbine design is capable of producing 40% more power than existing models, allowing the turbines to generate electricity at speeds as low as 1.2 meters a second. This will allow the company to deliver power over 350 days in a year, which is 100 days more than the current average.
John Flaherty, Founder of the C&F Group, told the Irish Times that the company decided to turn to the wind turbine manufacturing business because of the global economic crisis. He said that “manufacturing is the best way for the Republic to emerge from recession.”
The new wind turbines will be available to domestic, small-business and agricultural users at affordable prices. Around 70% of the turbines will be exported, mainly to the European market. Two new wind turbines have already been commissioned to power the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Galway.
The C&F Manufacturing Group is a global contract manufacturer that manufactures industrial equipment and tools ranging from computer casings to server racks. The company’s headquarters is located in Athenry, Galway, Ireland, with manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic, China, the Philippines, and the UK.
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Natassia Y. Laforteza
Sources:
1 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0515/1224246567019.html
2 http://www.cftooling.ie/index.php
