Siemens Gamesa is recruiting a first 210 people for its offshore wind blade and nacelle factory in the French harbour city of Le Havre.

"Giving life to the largest industrial project in the history of renewable energies in France during a health crisis is a huge challenge,” said Siemens Gamesa France President Filippo Cimitan.

“The recruitment and training of the 750 direct and indirect jobs for our project within the current constraints is one of its most striking aspects.”

The 210 positions to be created in the first phase of recruitment will be, for example, for blade operators, logistics operators, quality controllers, and supply chain specialists.

All jobs will be published both on the Siemens Gamesa website (www.siemensgamesa.com/en-int/career/career-le-havre) and on pole-emploi.fr with the keyword "wind power" and geographical area "Le Havre".

300 turbines

The OEM is working in partnership with public labour market operator ‘Pôle emploi Normandie’ to set up recruitment processes adapted to the skills required.

This first recruitment phase will be followed by several others throughout 2021 and 2022.

Contrary to Siemens Gamesa factories in Germany and the UK, the French plant initially will produce smaller offshore wind turbines in the 6 and 7MW range to meet orders for more than 300 turbines from France’s first offshore wind tenders in 2012 and 2014.

Due to lengthy court cases and permitting snags, no commercial-scale offshore wind farm has been built in France yet.

To meet a booming European offshore wind demand, Siemens Gamesa in December also said it will expand its factory in Cuxhaven, Germany, where it will also produce its latest 14-15MW turbine model.