Corus Special Profiles secures wind power orders

Nov 9 2009 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette

A TEES Valley steel plant has made a breakthrough into the renewable energy market, securing more than £1m of orders from the wind power sector.

Corus Special Profiles in Skinningrove has unveiled a bespoke product for the sector, which has led to it securing five European orders for steel used in the construction of both onshore and offshore wind towers. Together, on and off shore wind power is thought to be worth more than £100bn over the next 12 years to suppliers like Corus.

Chris Elliot, Corus director of product line management, said: “This is part of our strategy to capture the increasing value of fast-growing industrial sectors, in this case renewable energy.

“Our ambition is to be both supplier of choice for renewable energy customers and a key player in sustainable supply chains in this emerging sector.”

Peter Gate, commercial manager for Corus Special Profiles, added: “There are only a handful of companies around the world capable of making this product. There was a tremendous amount of commitment and enthusiasm from the Skinningrove workforce to develop it in a very short-time frame - just two months, which included the trials.”

The Skinningrove business supplies steel products to a range of markets across the globe, from earth-moving equipment to shipbuilding.

The new product has boosted the company following a decline in other markets.

“We’re always looking at new markets and how we can diversify so that if we see a decline in one area, we have opportunities in others,” added Mr Gate.

The orders were secured following development work by Corus engineers in Scunthorpe and Skinningrove, as well as at the company's research labs in Rotherham.

Researchers and engineers worked together to identify the processes needed to create the high quality steel at the Skinningrove mill.

The steel is manufactured in Scunthorpe and transported to Skinningrove where steelworkers reheat it to 1,250 degrees C before rolling it into the desired shape to meet individual customers’ requirement.

The end product is a bar of steel which typically measures 15m in length and weighs four tonnes. The steel is then shipped to manufacturers of flanges, which are used to join sections of tubular steel used in the construction of towers for wind turbines.