Ex-steelworks to make wind farm parts in plan for 6,000 green jobs
The government will invest almost £100 million creating new wind turbine ports in northeast England, with a big renewables company announcing plans to make crucial parts in Teesside.
Two new wind ports, one in Teesside and another in north Lincolnshire, will create capacity for seven companies to make parts for the offshore wind industry, whose capacity the government has vowed to quadruple by 2030. The projects are set to create 6,000 new jobs.
As part of the announcement the government said that GE Renewable Energy, a multi-billion pound manufacturer, will build a new wind blade factory at the Teesside site, which is a former steelworks. The factory is due to open and start production in 2023.
Its blades will be supplied to the Dogger Bank wind farm off the northeast coast, which is set to become the largest offshore wind farm in UK waters, and will power up to six million homes.
The government is investing £20 million in the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre, and £75 million in the Able Marine Energy Park on the south bank of the Humber. The investments comprise more than half of a £160 million fund announced last year.
“During the Industrial Revolution over 200 years ago, wind powered the sails of ships from the Humber and Teesside trading goods around the world,” Boris Johnson said. “Now the Humber and Teesside will put the wind in the sails of our new green industrial revolution, building the next generation of offshore wind turbines while creating 6,000 new green jobs.
“Our multimillion-pound investment in these historic coastal communities is a major step towards producing the clean, cheap energy we need to power our homes and economy without damaging the environment.” The government is determined to demonstrate its commitment to green energy before hosting the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow in November. This week John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, held talks with Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Alok Sharma, the summit’s president.
Johnson has adopted the language of a “green industrial revolution”, a phrase that played a large role in Jeremy Corbyn’s 2019 election campaign, since November when he unveiled a ten-point plan to create 250,000 new green jobs with £12 billion of government money.
Yet despite Britain having more offshore wind farms than anywhere else in the world, ministers fear the benefits of increased capacity will go to other countries, which build more parts.
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Britain has only two blade factories already, one in Hull and another on the Isle of Wight, with some blades and other turbine parts imported. Nacelles, which house turbines’ generators, are often made in Europe, especially Denmark and Germany. Foundations are frequently imported from China and other countries with cheap labour.
Sources said that the government investment was designed to increase capacity for manufacturing those parts in the hope that private sector investment will soon follow.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said: “To ensure our businesses, supply chain and high-skilled workforce can fully share in the sector’s success, today’s investment in the Humber region and Teesside will put the UK in pole position to land new offshore wind investors.”
Hugh McNeal, chief executive of the RenewableUK trade association, said the GE Renewable Energy plant would transform the former steelworks site, adding: “This announcement marks the start of the next generation of offshore wind manufacturing.”
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