Siemens to support £310m UK offshore wind plant

Siemens has announced that it will invest £160 million in an offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant in Hull in North East England.

The project has also received £150 million of investment from Associated British Ports (ABP) and the two sites chosen for the project are Green Port Hull and another facility in neighbouring Paull in East Yorkshire.

Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said: “This deal is excellent news for the people of Hull and the Humber, the UK, the wind industry and our energy security. We are attracting investment by backing enterprise with better infrastructure and lower taxes.”

Siemens’ energy sector CEO, Michael Suess, said, “Our decision to construct a production facility for offshore wind turbines in England is part of our global strategy: we invest in markets with reliable conditions that can ensure that factories can work to capacity.The British energy policy creates a favourable framework for the expansion of offshore wind energy. In particular, it recognises the potential of offshore wind energy within the overall portfolio of energy production.”

Siemens initially announced that it would invest £80 million in the project but has since doubled that amount.

Shaun Kingsbury, the chief executive of the government-backed Green Investment Bank, said, “The UK has some of the best conditions in the world for wind power, the global hub for green finance expertise and is one of the world’s most stable and attractive investment locations. Today’s announcement from Siemens is further evidence of the very direct and real benefits that the industry can bring to the UK’s economy and communities.”

The Hull was named City of Culture for 2017 in November and the project was met with enthusiasm by Hull MP Alan Johnson, who called it “the biggest economic development in the long and proud history of Hull”.