"This plan is not just about slimming down the company but about getting it ready for the future," said Gamesa Chairman Ignacio Martin, who took over the helm of the company in May. The cuts, which will hit 845 jobs in Spain.

Years of turmoil over a proposed wind farm that would have bordered the county has come to an end. Spanish wind developer Gamesa announced in a two-paragraph statement from David Rosenberg, vice president of marketing communications, that the company will not be moving forward with development plans for the Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm.

Wind-turbine manufacturer Gamesa Inc. is looking for a way to haul its huge blades out by rail, minimizing truck transport. Company spokesman Michael Peck said Friday no decisions have been made as to where a rail link could be made, but said the closer to the Ebensburg plant the better.

Shares in Spain's Gamesa (GAM.MC) drop 5.8 percent on uncertainty after its chairman resigned late on Thursday, with concerns over regulation for the Spanish renewable energy sector also weighing on sentiment.

An open house Wednesday by Spanish energy producer Gamesa USA is not exactly the kind of forum Tyrone's mayor had in mind when he asked the company to hold a public meeting on its proposed Ice Mountain wind farm. ... As it is set up now, with Gamesa representatives talking to people one-on-one, there's a missed opportunity for more people to hear how the company is addressing its critics.

This is the plant's second large furloughing of workers in recent years. Gamesa temporarily laid off 79 workers in late 2009 when the recession decreased demand for its products. The company was able to bring back those employees thanks to an infusion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa Inc. announced it is laying off nearly 200 employees at its Keystone Industrial Port Complex plant in Fairless Hills because of the worldwide economic slowdown. ...Peck said changing conditions in the market and the plant's inability to produce efficient "next-generation" blades has all but forced the company to lay off 184 employees who work at the plant's blade production bay.

The blade became detached from the G5X-850 850kW turbine earlier this week. Reports suggest the stray component hit a transmission line. The turbine was installed around three years ago and is part of a wind farm in southern India operated by Pioneer Wincon.

Gamesa USA is reducing employment levels at its Cambria Township fiber blade plant by more than half, the result of the global financial crisis that has stalled many planned wind farm projects, company officials said Wednesday.

Gamesa USA's decision to furlough more than half its employees at the local turbine blade plant came as a surprise to many. But Gov. Ed Rendell remains optimistic the action is a bump in the renewable energy journey, a spokesman said Friday. ..."Not only does it hurt the families of these employees, but there is a spinoff in the economy as well." The Gamesa plant in Ebensburg was made possible through $9.3 million in state assistance.

A total of 165 employees at Gamesa's production facilities in Bucks and Cambria counties are expected to be laid off starting in late August or early September, Gamesa spokesman David Rosenberg said. "Basically, we're adjusting our production capacity at the two facilities to reflect the current U.S. market conditions," Rosenberg said.

The demise of Windtechnics follows a heated dispute between it and its largest client, Gamesa. Windtechnics commercial director, Julien Dupuis, alleges Gamesa demanded Windtechnics double its number of hours of service for the same fee and that the O&M provider refused.

Gamesa Energy Project Developer Josh Framel attended Tyrone Borough's work session last evening and offered council increased figures in the proposed lease agreement for a 10 to 15 turbine wind farm on the Ice Mountain watershed property. Framel proposed to council to increase the Option Period pay in the lease agreement to $5,000 per year, which is solely for the option to lease the land. The original proposal was $1,500 per year. Gamesa also proposed to increase the $6,000 per windmill per year for the Operation Period to a new figure of $7,000 per windmill per year.

Gamesa Inc. on Friday identified a defect in an applicator used to apply a thin Fiberglas layer to wind-turbine blades as the cause of blade splintering and breakage. The blades are manufactured at Gamesa's Ebensburg-area factory.

Turbine-makers from Gamesa to the world's biggest, Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Aarhus, Denmark, are struggling as overcapacity and slowing demand force down turbine prices, which fell to 910,000 euros a megawatt in the second half of 2011. ... It's the second time this year that Gamesa has cut its sales forecast.

Jack County commissioners received official notice Monday of a new wind energy project during a regular meeting of the court. Representatives from Gamesa Energy were present to detail Senate Wind LLC and lay the groundwork for a request for a re-investment zone. ...Larry Guyton, who owns property in the Senate area, approached the court with concerns about the new project. He said he was representing seven of his neighbors who, because of the lack of notice of the Gamesa presentation, could not attend the meeting.

More than a third of the 35 proposed windmills in the second phase of the largest wind farm in Pennsylvania will be constructed in Cambria County, while the remainder will be placed in neighboring Blair County, local officials learned. Of the 13 planned for Cambria, nine will be in Portage Township and four in Washington Township, Terry Nicol, a representative for wind-energy developer Gamesa Inc., said of the North Allegheny Wind Farm LLC. "We will be building further west than last year," Nicol told Washington Township supervisors. The nine planned for Portage Township also will be built further west, toward the Lilly area, Nicol said. In a request for approval of local ordinances needed for construction, Nicol outlined details of the second phase for officials in the two townships.

TYRONE - Gamesa Energy USA wants to build about a dozen wind turbines on Tyrone Borough's Ice Mountain watershed as part of a larger wind farm that would stretch into Centre County. "We think it has really good potential for a wind farm," Gamesa representative Josh Framel told Borough Council at its Monday meeting. "We'd like to start discussing the lease agreement with the borough."

An alternative energy provider will explain its plans to install windmills on land owned by the borough. Gamesa Energy USA LLC, a wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Spain, will discuss its plans during a meeting set for 7 p.m. Thursday in borough hall. “The public should know what was taking so long,” Pine Grove Borough Council President Phyllis Hesser said last week.

Gamesa officials have started to make the public rounds as wind projects have begun to spring up in both Cambria and Somerset counties, bringing questions and some opposition from the affected communities. Company representatives met with local newspapers and held the first of several planned town hall meetings Wednesday. "It's important that people understand what's going on and they're not blind-sided," Ellen Lutz, Gamesa's director of development for the Atlantic region, said during an editorial conference Wednesday at the Daily American. The company, whose Shaffer Mountain project has come under criticism, got off to a slow start when it came to providing a forum to the public, she said