GE Renewable Energy marked the production of the 500th wind turbine blade at its LM Wind Power manufacturing site in Turkey, the company announced yesterday.

The milestone came two years after production began at the new plant in Bergama, in western Turkey's İzmir.

"With the growing demand for wind energy worldwide, including in Turkey, Europe and Asia, these 500 blades were designed to capture the wind for a total capacity of about 500 megawatts, enough to power the equivalent of around 680,000 homes in Turkey," a company statement read.

Inaugurated back in July 2017, the Bergama facility became the fifteenth LM Wind Power factory and the first opened after the GE Renewable Energy had bought the facility a few months earlier.

The statement added that the Bergama factory represents a $50 million commitment to Turkey. In 2019, plans to extend the facility and recruit 300 new employees saw LM Wind Power agree to a further investment of $30 million by the end of the year.

Director of the Bergama plant Ozan Mamay, commended the team for its achievements over the past two years, including the production of its new onshore wind platform, Cypress.

"We are excited to see the site continuously grow. The Cypress onshore wind technology is a great fit to lower the costs of electricity in Turkey and around the world. We are excited to be producing its revolutionary two-pieces blade at our site in Bergama," added Mamay.

LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy Business, is a designer and manufacturer of rotor blades for wind turbines. The Bergama site currently employs 450 people, of whom 26% are women, and plans to push that number to 700 by 2020.