A WIND turbine parts maker has vowed to deliver further jobs and contracts ahead of fulfilling its first major order, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Offshore Structures (Britain) (OSB) is just days away from shipping transition pieces for Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank Extension, in Liverpool Bay.

The occasion will mark a major milestone for the company, which has rejuvenated the former Tag Energy Solutions plant, on the River Tees, at Haverton Hill, near Billingham.

The business will supply 16 transitions for Burbo Bank, with the first four due to leave the region at the start of May.

However, once the structures, which sit upon turbine monopiles and include platforms, boat landing areas and cable housing, have gone, the company will start producing 40 more for Dong’s Walney Extension offshore wind farm, off the Cumbrian coast.

The company, a partnership between Danish steel contractor Bladt Industries and German steel firm EEW Special Pipe Constructions, has already created about North-East 200 jobs, and OSB chairman, Heiko Mützelburg, previously said its Dong successes could be followed by an agreement with RWE to supply 28 transition pieces for the Galloper wind farm, in the South-East.

Ray Taviner, OSB operations director, refrained from specific details, but confirmed talks are being held to capture further work.

He also said the business was committed to Haverton Hill for the long-term and added bosses are looking at ways to use OSB’s vast site to potentially produce other turbine parts.

Mr Taviner said: “We have got other things in the pipeline and the outlook is positive.

“We are talking (about new work) but until it is signed off on the dotted line we can’t disclose it.

“However, we are here for the long-term and looking to develop the site.”

Mr Taviner said OSB’s presence was providing a fillip for the region’s supply chain, citing nearby Universal Coatings and Services, which is part of Wilton Engineering Services and has provided paint work, as an example.

He said: “This site is a beacon of prosperity for the area and it’s nice to see commerce on the river.

“It’s had a really positive effect.”

OSB took on the factory last year when Tag, which delivered foundation poles for the Humber Gateway wind farm, in East Yorkshire, collapsed.

The plant was mothballed after the company was put up for sale and staff were paid off when orders thinned, despite it receiving grants from the Department for Energy and Climate Change and regional development agency One North East.

See next Wednesday’s Jobs&Business supplement for an in-depth feature on OSB’s first year in the North-East