Offshore wind brings manufacturing boom to UK's industrial heartlands

摘要

Recent weeks have seen a series of announcements about plans for new manufacturing facilities for offshore wind components in the UK. In the most recent, grant funding to the tune of £266M (US$368M) from the UK Government and private sector investment is to be used by Siemens Gamesa to double the size of its blade manufacturing facility in England and by GRI Renewable Industries for a new tower fabrication facility. That announcement, in August 2021, followed news of £180M of private sector investment in the Humber and in Newcastle-upon-Tyne that will see South Korean company SeAH Wind Ltd build a monopile fabrication facility in the UK and fabricator Smulders develop facilities to build transition pieces for offshore wind. A further £95M is being provided by the government to create two new offshore wind ports on the Humber and on Teesside. Siemens Gamesa will invest £186M to expand its blade manufacturing site. GRI Renewable Industries has been awarded £78M for its offshore wind turbine tower factory. The wind turbine manufacturer will expand its blade factory in Hull by 41,600 m~2, more than doubling the size of the manufacturing facility there. The new facility is due to be completed in 2023.