Tender launched for £22m turbine factory project

The company behind the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project has launched a tender for the design and construction of a new £22m turbine manufacturing and pre-assembly plant.Tidal Lagoon Power will locate the 100m long facility between the Kings and Queens Dock at Swansea Bay. It will initially employ up to 100 skilled workers with an additional 150 project workers accommodated in an onsite office welfare area.It will receive components from manufacturers across Wales and the UK to produce the turbines required by the tidal lagoon project on the site.At the same time, a report from Tidal Lagoon Power has estimated that the sector could be worth more than £70bn to UK industry.The Ours to Own report sets out how Britain’s first mover advantage in the production of major components for tidal lagoon turbines, generators and turbine housings at Swansea Bay can be sustained and grown as the tidal lagoon sector scales in the UK and worldwide.There is the potential opportunity for the UK’s engineering, construction, steel and manufacturing industries to win contracts totalling about £800m at Swansea Bay and more than £6bn for the first project to employ its template at full-scale at Cardiff.