By Isabella Kaminski
Humberside has been chosen as the location of a new offshore wind turbine manufacturing and export facility to be developed by Siemens and Associated British Ports.
The offshore wind turbine factory, to be based at Alexandra Dock in the Port of Hull, is expected to create hundreds of on-site manufacturing jobs as well as thousands more in the associated supply chains.
Dr Gordon Edge, Policy Director at RenewableUK, says: “This is great news, not just for Hull, but for the wider Humber region and the rest of the UK. RenewableUK estimate that with the establishment of a strong offshore wind manufacturing base, the wind industry can create 60,000 jobs in the UK by 2020.”
On Friday, Prime Minister David Cameron also backed plans to explore linking up green energy projects in the North, Baltic and Irish Seas.
“The Supergrid, developed on the back of the expansion of the North Sea’s offshore wind programme, will connect geographically diverse renewable sources into a trans-European grid, improving grid management and boosting Europe’s energy security,” says Edge.
