Go-ahead for wind to generate 70,000 jobs

Offshore wind will create 70,000 “green jobs”, the government said on Monday, as hundreds of millions of pounds of planned investments in turbine manufacturing were confirmed.

The investments by companies including General Electric, Siemens and Gamesa of Spain had been in doubt as the coalition considered whether to continue with support promised by Labour ministers.

David Cameron said £60m of spending earmarked for upgrading British ports to make them suitable for handling large offshore turbines would go ahead.

“I want us to be a world leader in offshore wind energy,” he said, announcing the national infrastructure plan. “We are making these investments so that major manufacturers will decide that this is the place they want to come and build their offshore wind turbines. This investment is good for jobs and growth, and good for ensuring we have clean energy.”

GE will invest £100m in a manufacturing plant, creating about 1,900 jobs by 2020. Jeff Immelt, chief executive, who visited Downing Street on Monday, said: “The UK has ample offshore wind resources that can provide clean energy for the UK as well as providing new, high-skill jobs for both GE and our suppliers in the UK.

“We . . . reinforce the importance of the government continuing to create long-term certainty for offshore wind manufacturers and developers by committing to a sustainable financial structure.”

Gamesa will spend €150m (£133m) setting up its worldwide centre for offshore wind in Britain, including a research and development centre and a turbine-manufacturing plant, generating 1,000 jobs, with another 800 indirectly at local suppliers.

Siemens announced an £80m plan for a turbine factory, creating 700 jobs at a site in the east or north-east.

The spending on ports was vital to securing the wind investment. During the summer, Siemens told the Financial Times it was unlikely to continue with its plans without this reassurance.

Gordon Edge of RenewableUK, the wind industry body, said: “This is a great day for the UK’s wind industry. We are set to realise the full potential of offshore wind both in terms of energy and job creation, and are happy that the government has shown vision and drive over this issue.”
source: www.ft.com

Hopes of eco-jobs windfall

26 Oct 2010 - Hopes are rising that Scotland will benefit from a multimillion-pound investment announced yesterday by a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer.

After months of speculation, Gamesa said it would open a research and development centre for offshore technology, build a manufacturing plant in the UK and base the global headquarters of its offshore division in London.

The company said the £133 million investment would create more than 1000 jobs, with another 800 jobs generated indirectly at local supplier firms.

Last month the Herald reported that Gamesa, was formally considering potential factory sites in Scotland. While the company has not announced a specific location, it is understood to be focusing on Dundee.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Development International said: “Gamesa’s announcement that it will place its global offshore wind headquarters in London is only one part of a wider investment programme by the company expected to involve a number of port areas in the UK.

“The Scottish Government and Scottish Development International have been in discussion with Gamesa at the highest levels with the aim of attracting elements of this investment programme into Scotland.”

Niall Stuart, chief executive of industry body Scottish Renewables, said: “This very much confirms the company’s commitment to the UK market.

“For Gamesa we believe everything is very much still to play for in terms of R&D and manufacturing and Scottish facilities such as Dundee and Nigg are incredibly well placed to help Gamesa achieve its ambitions in the UK offshore wind market. It also confirms that offshore wind is a massive opportunity and will create thousands of jobs.”

Gamesa’s announcement came as David Cameron said he would make available £60m for an improvement programme for ports to boost offshore wind projects.

Creating the necessary infrastructure at key port locations is seen as essential to ensuring the UK benefits economically from the anticipated increase in renewables investment in the coming years.

While the country is expected to see a proliferation of offshore wind farms, there is currently very little manufacturing capacity to build the new installations.

Mr Cameron said the move could create up to 70,000 new jobs, as the potential for Britain to lead the world in the offshore wind industry was “immense”, especially as thousands of turbines would be needed in the next decade.

“Manufacturing these needs large factories which have to be on the coast, yet neither the factories nor the large port sites exist and that, understandably, is putting off private investors,” David Cameron said.

“To help secure private-sector investment we are providing up to £60 million to meet the needs of offshore wind infrastructure at our ports.”

In other news, Siemens said it was well on track to build its UK wind turbine factory ready for 2014, creating about 700 new jobs, while GE reaffirmed its plan to invest £100 million to develop offshore wind turbine manufacturing facilities in the UK.

Meanwhile, former energy minister Brian Wilson said last night Scotland had to take a far tougher line on linking consents for renewable energy projects to the development of a local supply chain.

He said that the record of the past decade had been deeply disappointing and that “all the talk about Scotland being the renewable energy capital of Europe has not been matched with jobs or investment”.

Mr Wilson, speaking at an SCDI dinner in Aberdeen, suggested that the Scottish Government should appoint a single minister with responsibility for all aspects associated with renewable energy.
source: www.heraldscotland.com

Job hopes soar after £60m fund to boost wind turbine plan honoured

26 October 2010 - THE Government has ended five months of uncertainty by confirming it will honour a £60m fund that could help the Humber become a world-leading hub for offshore wind turbine manufacturing.

The Prime Minister's announcement that the Government will help fund infrastructure upgrades at ports was warmly welcomed by three major manufacturers who immediately reiterated their desire to build factories in the UK.

Potential sites have alrea
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dy been identified on the north and south banks of the Humber and thousands of jobs could be created if Siemens, General Electric and Gamesa choose to build massive factories in the region to construct the giant turbines and their components for offshore wind farms around the British coast.

The announcement will ease fears that manufacturers would walk away from the UK as the coalition stalled on whether to honour the £60m fund proposed by Labour, and raise hopes that 70,000 jobs could be created over the next few years.

Speaking to the Confederation of British Industry, David Cameron said: "We need thousands of offshore turbines in the next decade and beyond, yet neither the factories nor these large port sites currently exist. And that, understandably, is putting off private investors. So we're stepping in.

"To help secure private sector investment in this technology, we're providing up to £60m to meet the needs of offshore wind infrastructure at our ports. And to help move things forward, the Crown Estate will also work with interested ports and manufacturers to realise the potential of their sites."

Mr Cameron's speech came as the Government launched the first national Infrastructure Plan, which is designed to show how the Government can lever in £200 billion of long-term investment from the public and private sectors. He also pledged £200m towards a network of innovation centres to tap into creativity from universities.

Today the Government will also reveal the fate of several other transport schemes which have been under review since the general election, although the future of the £200m trolleybus scheme in Leeds is expected to be left uncertain.

The scheme has already been scaled back by £35m but its omission from last week's Spending Review and yesterday's Infrastructure Plan has led to fears it will not yet be approved.

The decision to go ahead with the £60m port fund means manufacturers or port owners – or a partnership of the two – can bid for money. The fund will only be available to disadvantaged areas.

Able UK, on the south bank of the Humber near the port of Immingham, and Associated British Ports (ABP), which runs the ports of Hull, Grimsby and Immingham, both have suitable sites which manufacturers are considering.

Siemens, the largest provider of wind turbines to the UK, said it wants to build a factory along the east coast on the UK by 2014 to build a new generation of 150metre-tall turbines, creating 700 new jobs.

Rene Umlauft, chief executive of Siemens Renewable Energy Division, said: "The positive signal from the UK Government means we can push ahead with our strategy of investments in growth areas for renewable energy. We will extend our market leadership with this new UK production plant for the next generation of offshore wind turbines."

General Electric (GE) also said it wanted to invest £100m to develop an offshore wind turbine manufacturing base in the UK, which could create nearly 2,000 jobs in the UK by 2020, and said it was "very pleased" by yesterday's news.
source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Offshore Wind Power: Cleaner, Cheaper, More Jobs Than Oil

A recent report from the U.S has found that focusing investments in that country on offshore wind power would be cost effective, generate more jobs and be better for the environment and ocean than offshore oil and gas exploration and development.

The study from Oceana says offshore wind can generate nearly 30% more electricity than offshore oil and gas resources combined while costing around USD $36 billion less than offshore oil and gas production. Additionally, approximately three times as many jobs per dollar invested could be created than in fossil fuel production.
New Jersey, Virginia and South Carolina could supply 92%, 83% and 64% respectively of their current electricity generation requirements with offshore wind. In each state, wind energy could provide more power than the states currently get from fossil fuels.

On the Atlantic Coast alone, the United States could install at least 127 gigawatts of wind power, creating between 133,000 and 212,000 jobs annually - more than triple the jobs that new offshore oil and natural gas development is expected to create.

The U.S is yet to install any offshore wind farms and Europe is currently the leading supplier of offshore wind turbines. Oceana points out that building a domestic manufacturing base would allow related investment to stay within the nation's shores and also allow the U.S. to become an offshore wind technology exporter.

An interesting aspect of the study is that it is based on conservative assumptions for offshore wind and generous assumptions for offshore oil and natural gas.

The group also says a small fraction of U.S. renewable energy resources is enough to provide power for the nation the country several times over.

Oceana is the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation.
source: www.energymatters.com.au

Ireland and offshore wind jobs potential

Ireland is missing out on job creation by not fully capitalising on its offshore wind potential, according to NOW Ireland.

Failing to follow the lead of the German and other EU governments and use Ireland's natural offshore wind resources as a driver of jobs and export growth means Ireland is losing out on creating new employment streams, according to NOW Ireland president Michael McBennett, who was speaking during an industry-led trade mission to the German town of Cuxhaven in Bremerhaven last week.

Cuxhaven is home to a cluster of offshore wind supply chain companies that are now directly employing in excess of 1,700 people after two years.

According to NOW Ireland, offshore wind developers here are in the process of planning in excess of 2,500MW of clean wind power projects in Irish waters. About one-third of this will be needed to meet Ireland’s 2020 energy targets, with the remainder set to become the core of Ireland’s renewable exports.
Irish Sea potential

The Irish Sea is seen as a key development zone, with substantial projects also planned for UK waters. The offshore lobby group has identified the potential of both Irish and UK projects as being a key driver to create jobs in Irish ports.

Speaking during the trade mission, McBennett said: “Governments around Europe have recognised the opportunity that this sector offers. A small town such as Cuxhaven, which suffered from significant unemployment, was identified as being an ideal base for development as a supply chain cluster. The Lower Saxony government allocated part of its port facilities as an offshore wind centre of excellence, which has resulted in significant direct investment. The same is happening in ports throughout the UK and the same could happen in Arklow, Dublin, Bremore, or Killybegs.”

The NOW Ireland trade mission included representatives from Enterprise Ireland, IDA, Forfás, Invest NI and the Construction Industry Federation, in addition to members of the Irish offshore sector.

“The main purpose of this journey was to show what is achievable. With political will, with leadership, these projects can and do take off. Our wind resource is considerably better than that of Germany. What has been created here is due to the determination of national and regional government in Germany to put in place a regime which takes advantage of the renewable resources which are here,” added McBennett.
Delegation host

The NOW Ireland delegation was hosted by Dr Klaus Weber of Strabag Wind, one of the key companies in the Cuxhaven cluster. He said that companies such as his are looking to Ireland, among other countries, as a potential venue for investment.

Following discussions with German supply chain companies, McBennett said such firms will not locate in Ireland unless the offshore projects exist.

“There needs to be some sense that the Irish offshore industry is going to fulfil the undoubted potential it has before supply chain companies such as Strabag Wind locate here. In the last six months the UK, thanks to their positive attitude to offshore wind, have seen announcements by multinationals such as Siemens, Clipper, Multibrid, Iberdrola and others bringing thousands of jobs in manufacturing. Ireland badly needs these jobs and we could have them,” he added.

NOW Ireland will be holding its third annual conference – Offshore Wind Energy in Ireland – From Policy to Reality – on 14 October at the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. For further details, visit NOW Ireland.source: www.siliconrepublic.com