Plans for huge GE wind turbine blade factory in Teesside submitted
Plans for a huge offshore wind turbine blade factory in Tees Valley have been submitted for approval, a major step forward for the project.
The GE Renewable Energy site, submitted for approval by Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, would create thousands of jobs.
GE Renewable Energy took the decision to build the factory in Teesside in part because Teesside was awarded the UK’s biggest Freeport.
The huge 78,000m2 facility, in the South Bank zone of the Teesworks site, will sit alongside a new 1km heavy lift quay, creating an ideal location for offshore wind.
When completed, GE estimates that it could create up to 750 direct highly skilled jobs and close to 1,500 indirect jobs to support its supply chain. The first blade is expected to roll off the production line in 2023, with the factory serving Dogger Bank, the world’s largest wind farm located just 80 miles off the North East coast.
Mr Houchen said: “I’m excited to reveal the huge plans for this mammoth manufacturing facility. The real regeneration of this site is beginning to take shape right in front of our eyes and, with it, creating real jobs on the ground as we speak.
“We’re clearing ground and delivering a construction-ready site primed for developers and now we’ve got global investors right here at the UK’s largest Freeport building this massive factory. A factory producing wind turbine blades, boosting our clean energy ambitions by supplying the growing offshore wind energy sector.
“Work is ramping up on projects throughout the whole Teesworks site and we’re creating hundreds of good-quality, well-paid local jobs for people from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool right now, as well as securing thousands more for the future.”
Andrew Bellamy, managing director at LM Wind Power UK, a GE Renewable Energy Business, said: “We’re thrilled to be unveiling our plans today for our state-of-the-art facility at Teesside. This is a first important milestone for us. GE Renewable Energy and LM Wind Power are looking forward to continuing on this journey to transform the site and contribute to the creation of this revived location that will form a leading offshore wind industrial cluster in the UK, creating thousands of highly skilled jobs in the process.”
