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Portuguese industrial giant Martifer has announced it will build a wind turbine tower facility in San Angelo, Texas, with a price tag of $40 million. The plant should be finished in the second half of 2009 and will employ 225 workers to produce about 400 towers a year. In Portugal, Martifer started making towers for wind turbines in 2004, but later diversified its interests in the sector, taking a stake in wind turbine manufacturer Repower, assembling wind turbines in Portugal and investing in wind plant in Europe. At the end of last year it announced it was developing 800 MW of projects in Texas (“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç, February 2008). "This plant will leverage Martifer Energy Systems activity in the United States, a new market for the energy equipment business area and an enormous chance for the expansion of Martifer activities in turnkey wind farms," says António Pontes, CEO of Martifer Energy Systems. Martifer just sold its stake in Repower to Suzlon (page 45).