1,000 offshore wind production jobs created in the UK
More than 1,000 offshore wind production jobs will be created and safeguarded across the North East of England and the Humber thanks to more than £180 million of private investment.
On top of its own private investment, offshore wind manufacturers SeAH Wind and Smulders Projects UK will each receive grant funding out of the £160 million Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support scheme.
Located on the Humber and at Wallsend in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the two manufacturers will substantially boost the UK’s offshore wind manufacturing base, supplying essential components to offshore wind farms across the UK, as well as for export around the world.
The Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support scheme is designed to support the delivery of manufacturing investment in the offshore wind supply chain. It provides grant funding for major investments in the manufacture of strategically important offshore wind components, from turbine blades to sea cables.
SeAH Wind will receive funding towards a new £117 million monopile foundation factory at the Able Marine Energy Park on the Humber, creating up to 750 direct jobs by 2030.
Smulders Projects UK will receive funding towards a £70 million investment in new equipment and infrastructure to enable the manufacture of offshore wind turbine transition pieces at their existing site in Wallsend, Newcastle, creating and safeguarding up to 325 direct jobs.
Joosung Lee, COO of SeAH Steel Holdings Corporation, said: “Based on the active support and trust from the UK government, it is meaningful for SeAH that investment toward the monopile factory is in full swing.”
The funding swiftly follows another announcement made in March this year when the government announced up to £95 million investment to establish two new ports on the Humber and on Teesside to enable manufacturers to build the next generation of offshore wind projects.
Together these new ports will have the capacity to house up to seven manufacturers to support the development of the next-generation offshore wind projects, substantially boosting the UK’s offshore wind manufacturing base while directly creating around 3,000 new jobs each.
In addition, US energy giant GE Renewable Energy have announced an investment in a major new offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing plant, the first investment on Teesside. This brand new manufacturing facility will directly create around 750 jobs in the area to supply the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project.
