Plan lodged for vast Teesside wind turbine blade plant

GE Renewable Energy has submitted plans for a mammoth factory to manufacture wind turbine blades.The huge 78,000sq m facility, in the South Bank zone of the Teesworks site, will sit alongside a new 1km heavy lift quay, creating the UK’s premier location for offshore wind.Ground remediation and clearance works are well underway with more than 40 people currently employed at the site.A £1m 95-tonne excavator, one of only three in the UK, recently joined the 40-strong machinery fleet to speed up land preparation works ahead of the facility’s construction, set to begin in October.Local firm Hall Construction bought the excavator to move more than 1.5million cubic metres of earth by the end of the year.Up to 2,250 jobs will be created to support the construction of GE Renewable Energy’s factory.The first blade is expected to roll off the production line in 2023, with the factory serving Dogger Bank, the world’s largest wind farm located just 80 miles off the North East coast.