Offshore wind turbine plant to create hundreds of engineering jobs

The German engineering giant Siemens has selected Associated British Ports (ABP) to build Britain’s first major offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant. The facility will be in Hull, which beat off competition from ports in Teesside, Sunderland and the Humber which had also been shortlisted for the project.

The project is a major boost to the area and could create a significant number of engineering jobs.
Alexandria Dock wind turbine facility will create over 700 engineering jobs

Siemens and Associated British Ports have signed a memorandum of understanding that ABP will undertake construction work on an £100 million deepwater berth at Alexandria Dock capable of handling the new generation of large offshore wind turbines. Siemens also has plans to build an £80 million manufacturing plant on the site.

It is estimated that between 700 and 1,000 jobs will be created by the time the facility is completed in 2014. In addition, as many as 10,000 new positions - including many hundreds of civil engineering jobs - could be created in the longer term.
Boost for ‘green engineering jobs’

The news from ABP and Siemens is also a boost for the government's attempts to create new jobs in the ‘green economy’, particularly from the manufacturing of wind turbines, which are being rapidly installed off the British coast.

However, industry sources estimate that the proportion of UK-sourced components in onshore wind farms is as low as 6 per cent. Companies have been critical of this missed opportunity for further British engineering jobs to be created in the manufacture of these components.

The Guardian reports that: “Some government advisers believe the state could do more to promote British turbine manufacturers, for example by introducing specifications for UK wind farms that would benefit domestic firms.”