Bad timing on wind turbine blades

Feb 22 2010 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette

GREEN bosses in the Tees Valley have questioned how a Tyneside scheme to build the world's biggest wind turbine blades was announced as the Corus blast furnace on Teesside was mothballed.

US-based Clipper Windpower will build two blades a week, ramping up production to feed offshore windfarms including the massive Dogger Bank in the North Sea, and create a hub for the low-carbon industries in the region.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown kick-started work on the Clipper Windpower operation last week, which is expected to provide work for 500 people initially, with production due to start in 2012

While green bosses welcomed the news as a major boost for the Tees Valley supply chain, the irony of Mr Brown’s announcement on the eve of the Corus blastfurnace mothballing on Friday was not lost.

John Barton, projects director with Renew - the Wilton-based regional organisation developing renewable energy projects - said the announcement begged the question how a multi-million pound industry requiring hundreds of tonnes of steel could be launched, while jobs were being lost at Corus.

“It’s perverse that something on this scale is announced as the Corus blast furnace is switched off,” he said.

“At a time when we are creating a significant amount of demand for steel, we are allowing one of the biggest assets we have to be mothballed.

“With the blade plant on the river and the turbine assembly facility at Blyth, they will soon be in a position to start putting together all the components. It’s claimed this will create a demand for steel which is the equivalent of building and launching two units a week.

“This is fantastic news for the North-east and the Tees Valley, but what it also says is the new industries are creating a much wider supply chain demand. Steel is a classic example.”

The blades Clipper will build will form turbines the size of the Eiffel Tower, with a wingspan the size of Big Ben.

Steve Abbott, from Narec, the Blyth-based New and Renewable Energy Centre, which has been working with Clipper on a blade-testing facility, said: “Clipper’s announcement is an indication of the opportunities for the Tees Valley. We hope others will follow them in the near future, and attracting manufacturers will bring opportunities for the supply chain on the doorstep.

“There is potential for the Tees Valley in everything from metal fabrication and component manufacturing to assembly, technical, operation and maintenance.

“This is a £100bn market, up to now we have build turbines of around three to five megawatts capacity. It’s a race between the big manufacturers to get the much larger turbines up and running.

“The North-east has the infrastructure, Dogger Bank is a massive windfarm and is close by, there is also another large site off the coast of East Anglia. The North-east is very well-placed.”

Mr Barton added: “Clipper can only really supply a percentage of the total requirement of the North Sea.

“We are starting to build a much more compelling case for more manufacturing facilities in the region.”