Gamesa is breaking ground on its fifth manufacturing plant in China, in the city of Da'an. The factory, which is scheduled to begin operating in 2011, will manufacture the G8X 2-megawatt (MW) wind turbines and is expected to have a production capacity of 500 MW per year.

The company currently has four manufacturing plants for blades, generators, and nacelle and gearbox assembly in the province of Tianjin, which employ 1,000 people. Gamesa's presence in China dates to 2000, though it is in the past five years that the company has stepped up expansion of its manufacturing base and wind farm development business there. In 2009, China accounted for 15% of the total MW sold worldwide.  

“Gamesa is one of the main investors in the wind power industry in China. The groundbreaking on our new facility strengthens Gamesa global position and it represents a great opportunity to keep involving in the China wind industry expansion and serving our clients in the province that the government has targeted to have the highest wind power capacity in all of China”, said Jorge Calvet, chairman of Gamesa.

The company has installed a total of 2,000 of its Gamesa G5X 850-kilowatt (kW) turbines in China at more than 60 sites. It began industrial production of the Gamesa G8X 2-MW model earlier this year, adding a total of 400 MW of new capacity to bring its total manufacturing capacity in China to 1,000 MW per year. Once the new facility is complete, Gamesa’s manufacturing capacity in China will rise to 1,500 MW in one year.

Gamesa currently has a pipeline of wind farm projects totalling 2,400 MW at varying stages of development in China. The company and its partner, China Guangdong Nuclear's Wind Group, brought their first 49.3-MW wind farm in Shandong province online in early 2010. Gamesa is currently building five wind farms, which will have an installed capacity of more than 200 MW.