TPI will build factory in Newton, add 500 jobs over next three years

NEWTON — A Rhode Island-based company announced plans today to build a factory here that will make wind turbine blades and employ 500 workers over the next three years. TPI Composites Inc., based in Warren, R.I., will begin construction next week on a 316,000-square-foot factory to make the blades for General Electric Energy’s 15-megawatt wind turbines. GE Energy said it has 6,500 of the turbines installed and expects to have 10,000 operating around the world by the end of next year. The companies said they have signed a long-term agreement for TPI to make the turbines at the new Newton plant. TPI also has wind turbine factories in China and Mexico. “TPI has given Newton and Jasper County one great Christmas present,” said Max Worthington,