The Nakskov-based company RewAir will open a new factory later this year in the southern Italian city of Taranto. This is part of the company's strategy to be close to its customers and strengthen its position in the competitive wind turbine industry.
The factory is expected to employ around 300 staff when it is fully operational - almost twice as many as RewAir currently has.
Closer to the customer
RewAir supplies materials and technical solutions for the production of wind turbine blades. The company's largest customer is Vestas, which has its largest European production of offshore wind turbine blades in Taranto.
- It is part of our strategy to be close to the blade factories. This simplifies logistics and reduces the climate impact of transport, says director and owner Jens Rewers, who founded RewAir in 2002.
10,000 square metres in Taranto
The Italian factory will be set up in 10,000 square metres of leased buildings, which are now being prepared for production. According to Jens Rewers, the company expects to be able to deliver from the factory in August or September.
The establishment in Italy is supported by both Lollands Bank and Denmark's Export and Investment Fund (EIFO). Lollands Bank has contributed with a facility loan, and EIFO with a subordinated loan and a growth loan.
- EIFO has been central to us being able to finalise the financing package. We also see it as an endorsement of the project, says Jens Rewers.
He also highlights the long-standing collaboration with Lollands Bank:
- We have been customers since we started in 2002, and they have been with us through good times and bad.
At Lollands Bank, they are pleased that a local company is expanding internationally:
- We think it's exciting that as a local bank we can support a customer who has been with us for many years. We follow our good business customers and want to support them, says Claus Rudi Pedersen, branch manager at Lollands Bank in Nakskov.
