New offshore wind ports for Humber and Teesside

Two new offshore wind ports, to be constructed in the Humber and Teesside regions, have been confirmed which will see some £95M government investment and create 6,000 new jobs.

The announcement of the new ports follows on from the budget and is the first major step in delivering Prime Minister’s green pledge to provide enough energy from offshore wind to power every home in the UK by 2030.

Able Marine Energy Park, on the South Bank of the River Humber, will receive up to £75M government investment, while the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre will benefit from up to £20M.

Supporting the UK’s ambition to hit zero carbon targets and improve the use of wind farms across the country, upgrade works will begin later this year, providing the ports with new infrastructure – helping to revitalise these historic industrial heartlands.

Together these new ports will have the capacity to house up to seven manufacturers to support the development of the next-generation offshore wind projects, substantially boosting the UK’s offshore wind manufacturing base while directly creating around 3,000 new jobs each.

GE Renewable Energy has been announced as the first manufacturer to invest, with the construction of a new state-of-the-art factory manufacturing offshore wind blades.

Due to open and start production in 2023, the blades produced by GE Renewables will be supplied to the Dogger Bank wind farm, located off the North East coast, which when completed in 2026 will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world and will be capable of powering up to six million homes.

Investment at the site has been realised thanks to Teesside receiving free port status and represent a huge leap forward in delivering the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution and meeting his target to quadruple the UK’s offshore wind capacity to produce 40GW of energy from offshore wind by 2030 – enough to power every home in the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “During the Industrial Revolution over 200 years ago, wind powered the sails of ships from the Humber and Teesside trading goods around the world.

“Now the Humber and Teesside will put the wind in the sails of our new green industrial revolution, building the next generation of offshore wind turbines whilst creating 6,000 new green jobs in the process.

“Our multi-million-pound investment in these historic coastal communities is a major step towards producing the clean, cheap energy we need to power our homes and economy without damaging the environment.”

The government funding will be provided through the £160M investment to upgrade port infrastructure and support manufacturing announced by the Prime Minister in October 2020.

Once complete, the ports will have the capacity to support the development of up to 9GW of energy offshore wind projects each year – enough electricity to power around eight million homes.

The ports will also support businesses – including smaller suppliers – across the UK will be well-placed to win contracts and attract further investment from energy companies around the world, increasing their competitive standing on the global stage.

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