Capable Able looks to a future with wind power

Aug 24 2010 by Chris Hole, Evening Gazette

Driving forward business on both the Tees and the Humber, it’s busy times for Billingham-based Able UK. Chris Hole met founder and executive chairman Peter Stephenson to find out more.

IN business it’s vital to always be thinking about your next move.

You need to make sure you’re one step ahead of the rest and constantly be looking to the future.

That’s what Billingham-based Able UK has always tried to do - and it’s a philosophy it maintains today.

As the world starts to consider greener energy options for the future, the Teesside company recently announced multi-million pound plans for a Marine Energy Park on the banks of the Humber.

The £400m investment aims to turn the site into the centrepiece of the UK’s nascent offshore wind industry - which it is hoped will deliver up to 15% of our electricity by 2020.

“We are developing what primarily will be for the offshore wind turbine industry,” Peter Stephenson, founder and executive chairman of Able UK, explained.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m very excited about it and there’s lots of interest.”

Over the years, Able UK has become one of the major players in a number of other fields.

They include property regeneration, site reclamation, and the decommissioning of marine structures.

The Humber development, which will cover nearly 2,000 acres, will turn its south bank into a marine energy park built around a 1,630 metre-long quay.

The plans include purpose-built facilities for the manufacture of offshore wind turbines and space to develop a biomass energy-generation plant - capable of supplying electricity for half a million homes.

It is set to create up to 12,500 direct jobs, as well as generating a further 10,400 indirect jobs in North Lincolnshire and another 2,400 in the wider region.

If all goes to plan it will be operational by 2013 and construction will be completed in 2015.

“The potential demand is huge,” Mr Stephenson added.