On November 29, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. MDT (04:00 a.m. KST on November 30, 2023), U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to S-Wind's U.S. subsidiary in Pueblo, Colorado. S-Wind is a global wind tower company headquartered in South Korea and operates seven wind tower factories around the world, one of which, the U.S. subsidiary, was acquired by S-Wind in June 2021. More than 300 company employees and government officials, including Chairman Kim Sung-kwon, welcomed Mr. Biden, who toured a large-scale wind tower production line and chatted with company officials.
In his welcome speech, Chairman Kim Sung-kwon said, "Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the IRA was passed, and our U.S. plant has grown from 400 employees at the time of acquisition to 900, contributing significantly to job creation and revitalization of the local economy. We look forward to tripling our production by 2028 to help accelerate the energy transition that is the need of the hour."
Mr. Biden's visit is said to be in response to the recent passage of the U.S. IRA legislation and the decision to invest $800 billion over five years. In his remarks, Mr. Biden recognized the hard work of C.S. Wind's employees, saying, "As the world's largest wind tower factory, C.S. Wind USA has more than doubled its employment, creating 500 new jobs, and is accelerating the clean energy transition by meeting the growing demand for wind towers."
The U.S. operation, acquired from customer Vestas in June 2021, is the world's largest wind tower producer, with more than 900 employees specializing in the production of onshore wind towers, creating jobs, revitalizing local economies, and expanding wind industry infrastructure. After the acquisition, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill was passed in August 2022, which will allow the company to directly receive the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC) for 10 years in proportion to its production volume, raising expectations for the company's growth potential along with the explosive growth of the U.S. wind market.
