
Confirmation has been made on the BBC News website that the a series of planning applications for a new £200m wind turbine factory in Hull have been submitted.
The German company Siemens has chosen the site to apply to build a facility to construct turbines for offshore wind farms in the North Sea and be opened in late 2014. We think that this is excellent news for the City of Hull, and the wider regions of East Yorkshire and ports on both sides of the Humber Estuary and is part of a wider plan to transform Hull’s Alexandra Docks into a “Green Port” for renewable energy firms.
A recent Government announcement to significantly reduce the cost of using the Humber Bridge will also assist free-up commercial trade in the area.
Credit must also be given to all the local MP’s who have backed the scheme and lobbied for the project to be sited in the UK and in Hull. The plant is expected to employ 700 people making blades and turbine generating units, known as nacelles.
The project is being developed in conjunction witth the docks’ owners Associated British Ports (ABP) and a spokesman, Matt Jukes, ABP port manager for Hull and Goole, said he hoped the wider Green Port project would eventually create thousands of new jobs.
The planning applications have been submitted to Hull City Council and the Marine Management Organisation, which is the body responsible for regulating developments at sea.
It is expected that a decision on whether to approve the scheme will be made by next summer.