UK urged to invest in ports

Trying to safeguard the UK’s place in the wind farm supply chain is not going to be easy, as it requires port investment to keep the country competitive, said the association.

The recently departed previous government pledged £60m towards upgrading the infrastructure around ports to enable wind turbine manufacturing in the UK, crucial for delivering the latest offshore wind projects.

However, RenewableUK is warning the fund could now be scrapped as part of the new government’s spending review in October and this could mean the UK loses out on 50,000 new jobs as manufacturers look to base their offshore wind operations outside the UK.

The organisation has stressed that decisions on new port infrastructure must be taken in the next six to twelve months if the UK is to take advantage of the manufacturing and supply chain opportunities offered by the Round 3 wind farm projects.

The campaign has received cross party support from Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader, Alan Whitehead (Labour MP) and Peter Aldous (Conservative MP), who sponsored an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons on the subject.

Dr Gordon Edge, director of policy at RenewableUK said, ‘We have a once in a generation opportunity to become a world leader in offshore wind but if we fail to capitalise on the lead we have in this sector, those jobs will be lost to rival countries already competing with us to attract offshore wind manufacturers.

‘We are urging the Government to make the important distinction between current spending and investment, as the infrastructure spending will ultimately deliver mass employment and business benefits at a local and regional level. We are looking at 50,000 jobs in wind turbine and component manufacturing over the next decade.’

Mr Kennedy pointed out that many ports that could benefit were in older industrial areas, adding, ‘The possibility of building our own home-grown industry should not be passed up.’

After the last Government’s announcement of the Offshore Wind Infrastructure Fund, Siemens and GE followed with their own announcements committing to a UK manufacturing presence, demonstrating the very clear link between Government support and industry action.

The UK currently has more offshore wind installed, in construction and planned than any other country in the world. With the right investment, this sector is expected to grow significantly over the coming years. The industry estimates that by 2030 the UK could have nearly 50GW of installed offshore wind capacity or the equivalent of more than half of the UK’s current annual electricity consumption.