Green Light for Siemens U.K. Turbine Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - German engineering major Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) took a big step closer to becoming a leading player in the U.K.'s €117 billion ($154 billion) offshore wind sector as its proposed wind turbine production and installation facilities in Hull got the green light.

Hull City Council's Planning Committee has granted permission to Siemens and partner Associated British Ports (ABP), for the €371 million ($513 million) Green Port Hull project. The project comprises new project construction, assembly and service facilities at Green Port Hull and a new rotor blade manufacturing facility in nearby Paull, in the East Riding. The two sites will create 1,000 new jobs and several hundred roles during construction, the partners stated. Hull City Council granted permission for a nacelle production facility last year which will be constructed at Alexandra Dock, Port of Hull. For additional information, see May 15, 2013, article - Siemens Wins Support for U.K. Wind Turbine Plant .

This week's planning permission means that construction on the nacelle facility will start later this year.

Finbarr Dowling, Siemens project director for Hull said: "We are delighted that the plans for Alexandra Dock have been approved today by Hull City Council. These works represent an important step in the overall programme which will be progressed in coming months and years. Many people have worked exceptionally hard to get the project to this stage and we are grateful for this commitment and the support of the people of Hull".

"This is a key project for the region, for the UK wind industry and for the UK in helping to deliver the future low carbon economy," commented ABP Director Humber, John Fitzgerald. "Following that momentous day in March, this decision marks another important project milestone our Green Port Hull development and we welcome it."

Green Port Hull is expected to start producing rotor blades for Siemens 6-megawatt (MW) turbines in the summer of 2016, and hit full production capacity in early 2017.

Siemens is not the only European energy company planning to take advantage of the U.K.'s booming offshore wind sector. Last March, the first dedicated offshore wind turbine terminal in the U.K. or Ireland was completed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Danish energy major, Dong Energy's (Fredericia, Denmark) and ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) (Glasgow, Scotland). For additional information, see March 1, 2013, article - U.K. gets First Offshore Wind Terminal.

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