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
