Mitsubishi wind centre jobs boost for Tyneside

Feb 26 2010 by Adam Jupp, The Journal

HUNDREDS of jobs could be coming to the North East with the creation of a £100m wind turbine research centre.

Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government to invest the cash in research and development into green energy.

And business secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday said the firm was looking at a number of sites in the region as potential bases for the centre, which could create 1,500 jobs.

It comes a week after American giant Clipper revealed it was moving into a factory in Walker Riverside, in Newcastle’s East End, where it will build turbine blades the size of jumbo jets.

Mitsubishi is yet to finalise exactly where it will locate its research and development base, but regeneration chiefs see the North East as the ideal location due to the region’s current expertise in this area and the existence of huge swathes of vacant industrial land, particularly along the banks of the Tyne.

And the Prime Minister is said to be of the same opinion, having described the North East as “leading the world” in the growing renewable energy sector.

Lord Mandelson signed the memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi, along with climate change secretary Ed Miliband, both of whom spent the end of last week in the region.

Mitsubishi chief executive Akio Fukui said the firm will build a prototype wind turbine within three years and that full-scale production will start after four years.

The turbines will be for offshore wind farms and will be offered for sale in overseas markets such as Germany, the United States and China as well as the United Kingdom.

Lord Mandelson said 200 jobs would initially be created, but that the scale of the development had the potential to generate as many as 1,500.

He added: “No country makes offshore wind turbines of the size we are talking about today on a commercial scale.

“Twenty years ago, the UK was a leading centre for onshore wind technology, but we failed to capitalise on that by not providing the right climate for growth.

“We are determined not to let that happen again. We are creating the largest market in the world for offshore wind and we intend to build and support the industry.”

Mr Miliband said: “This decision by Mitsubishi is a sign that the UK is starting to turn its leadership in offshore wind generation into leadership in manufacturing.

“We have the wind resource and we now have an industry that is really starting to grow.

“This is possible because of our domestic market and our commitment to supporting companies that locate here. It is another step to turning Britain into a leading green manufacturing centre.”

Mr Fukui said: “We have been working with UK Trade and Investment for some time and we look forward to further growing our offshore wind business with UK-based partner and supply chain businesses from 2010, bringing much needed competition into the offshore wind turbine supply market, and economic benefit to the UK.”

The news has also been welcomed in the region, with the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), in Blyth, Northumberland, describing it as another key piece in the jigsaw of the UK and the region leading the way on the creation of green energy.

Narec CEO Andrew Mill said: “Today’s news of the MOU signed between BIS and Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe (MPSE) is further testament to the commitment of the UK Government to realise a UK offshore wind industry. Narec welcomes this investment and looks forward to working with MPSE on their R&D programme.”

The Mitsubishi announcement comes seven days after the Clipper deal was announced. The US-firm will build the world’s largest turbine blades in the new factory, being built by Shepherd Offshore on the site of the former Neptune shipyard.

That factory takes up just one fifth of the Neptune site, which itself makes up only a tiny part of the vacant industrial land that stretches from Newcastle to the mouth of the Tyne. Speaking at the launch last week, the PM hinted at more announcements for the region, saying: “They will be the start of other companies coming here and the start of other developments, which will mean Britain is maintaining its position as number one in this field.”

The Mitsubishi deal is underpinned by £30m investment from the Government. British Wind and Energy Association chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “This all signals the rebirth of manufacturing in the UK, with an estimated 70,000 green-collar jobs to be created on the back of over £100bn of private sector investment.The combined contribution from both on and offshore wind is set to contribute up to half of the UK’s domestic electricity requirement by 2020, dramatically reducing our dependency on imported fossil fuels and displacing millions of tonnes of harmful CO2 every year.

“It is not an exaggeration to speak of offshore wind as the new North Sea oil.”

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “The Mitsubishi announcement is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s renewable sector. We are clearly now open for business and, importantly, we are now winning business.

“The green manufacturing revolution is now becoming a reality. It comes on the same day that Siemens, alongside the Carbon Trust, has made a key investment into Marine Current Turbines, a leading British marine energy company.

“Both announcements signal clearly that the UK can and will create significant economic benefit and attract inward investment from the move to a low-carbon economy, particularly in the offshore renewables sector.”

We have the wind resource and we now have an industry that is really starting to grow