Russia's Rosatom has opened a factory for manufacturing wind turbine blades, taking the place of the former Vestas facility.

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has inaugurated a wind turbine blade manufacturing facility at the site of a plant that was previously owned by Denmark's Vestas, as announced by the governor of Ulyanovsk region on his Telegram channel.

Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer, closed its Ulyanovsk plant, which produced blades for wind farms, in 2022 and exited Russia in 2023, abandoning all its assets.

The Western sanctions imposed on Russia following the onset of the conflict in Ukraine have severed the country's access to Western technologies and components, impacting various sectors including renewable energy.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak indicated last April that within 2-3 years, Russia would be able to substitute the foreign manufacturers of wind farm equipment that have withdrawn from the market.

Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce up to 450 blades annually, according to Rosatom, which is one of the largest investors in Russia's wind energy sector.

Furthermore, the Ulyanovsk facility may also export blades, supporting Rosatom's initiative in Kyrgyzstan, where they plan to establish a 1-gigawatt wind farm, as stated by Rosatom's head Alexei Likhachev, according to Interfax news agency.