Nordex starts building $100m Jonesboro plant.(MANUFACTURING)

Nordex USA Inc. said last week that it was starting construction on its $100 million wind turbine manufacturing plant at Jonesboro. The company announced it would build the plant last October.

"After much careful planning, we are eager to break ground and make this plant a reality," Ralf Sigrist, president and CEO of Nordex USA of Chicago, said in a news release.

The Jonesboro plant, which is the German company's first in the United States, will employ 700 people at an average wage of $17 an hour.

Construction will occur in two phases, beginning with the nacelle assembly plant and then the rotor blade manufacturing facility, the news release said.

The nacelle assembly will start in the second half of 2010 and be fully operational by 2012. It will have an annual production capacity of 300 turbines, or 750 megawatts. The entire facility will be fully operational by 2014.

The plant will be built on 187 acres and will have 115,000-SF of production space.

The general contractor is H&M Co., of Jackson, Tenn.

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