Clipper to start work on world‘s largest turbine blade factory
Thursday 18 February 2010
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| In April 2008, the Crown Estate announced its purchase of the first commercial prototype Britannia turbine for Round 3 |
Clipper Windpower has today (February 18) confirmed that it is to start construction of a factory in Newcastle to build the biggest wind turbine blades in the world.
The Newcastle factory is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010 and will be the UK's first offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility.
The announcement came as the latest £8m funding for offshore wind technology was made available by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) through the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF).
US-owned Clipper was awarded a £4.4 million grant from the ETF last year to develop to site to build the massive 10MW ‘Britannia' offshore wind turbine (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story), which when deployed in 2012 is set to be 175 metres tall with 70m blades and weigh more than 30 tonnes.
The grant will contribute toward some of the costs associated with the development of the Britannia offshore wind turbine blade and 4,000 square metre factory, which Clipper expects to employ up to 500 people by 2020.
At the ground-breaking ceremony at the site today, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the region would be crucial to maintaining the UK's position as a "global leader" in offshore wind power.
"The North East is at the forefront in providing the skills, expertise and enterprise to capitalise on this rapidly expanding market, which has the potential to create thousands of future green jobs," he said.
"The combination of our strong natural wind resource and the substantial backing we've given the industry mean the investment conditions in the UK are unrivalled."
James G.P. Dehlsen, chairman of Clipper, said that today marked an important milestone for the renewable energy sector.
"Over the next few years, with the development of the Britannia turbine the UK will benefit through the supply of electricity based on its abundant offshore wind energy resource, and also with economic activity related to turbine manufacturing, offshore installation, and long term operations and servicing.
"The offshore wind market in the UK is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting sectors in the global renewable energy industry."
Funding
The £8 million of funding amounts to a third call for proposals for capital grant funding for component and technology development in the offshore wind sector.
The offshore wind market in the UK is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting sectors in the global renewable energy industry
Under the previous two ETF rounds, about £18m of grants were awarded to Siemens, Vestas, Artemis, Mitsubishi, Burntisland Fabrications and Teeside Alliance Group, as well as Clipper, for a variety of projects.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, said that such Government support along with The Crown Estate's Round 3 licensing to single Britain out as a leader in offshore wind rather than "simply being a follower."
"The UK already has more offshore wind installed than any other country in the world and our plan is to build on that position," he said.
"The £8 million being made available today will be invested in projects to support the development of a new generation of turbines.
This is in addition to the £18 million already awarded, and the recent decision to issue rights for 32GW of capacity- the biggest expansion of offshore wind of any country in the world."
Region
Nick Brown, Minister for the North East and MP for Newcastle East and Wallsend, welcomed the investment in the area.
"This is the start of a whole new industry for east Newcastle. It will provide secure employment for generations to come and put our community at the forefront of new green technologies."
Alan Clarke, chief executive of regional development agency One North East, which to date has invested £2.1million in land remediation to enable the factory to be built on the site, echoed the new factory's boost to jobs in the region.
"Today marks the first stage in the creation of what we believe will be thousands of new manufacturing jobs in the offshore wind sector, founded on the North East's skills and ready-made sites," he said.
"This announcement is a significant step forward for our vision to establish North East England as a European hub for the fabrication, assembly and delivery of offshore wind turbines."
Andrew Mill, chief executive of nearby Narec, which announced the contruction of the world's largest open access offshore wind turbine drive train test rig on Tuesday (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story) said: "Today's announcement is excellent news for the region and provides a shot in the arm for industry on the region's rivers, which are well placed to take advantage of an industry set to be worth £100 billion in the UK alone by 2020."
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