Wind power leading to new industrial chapter (From The Northern Echo)

Wind power leading to new industrial chapter

8:00am Monday 11th July 2011 in North-East Business News By Owen McAteer

OFFSHORE wind is a "new industrial chapter" for the North-East, the chief executive of a new plant producing wind turbine foundations said last night.

Alex Dawson, Chief Executive of TAG Energy Solutions, was speaking as it was confirmed the firm's new plant at Haverton Hill, Billingham, was now up and running, just nine months after plans to build it were announced.

Forty workers are already on site, with recruitment continuing for around 60 more who are expected to start in the near future.

The firm is currently speaking to windfarm developers to secure future contracts and should orders at the £20m facility meet expectations the number employed there is expected to eventually rise to around 400.

It comes as North-East firms position themselves to provide a hub of expertise in offshore wind from cables connecting the turbines to their manufacture and testing.

Mr Dawson said: "This is a significant moment for the North East of England energy sector as it reaffirms the region's manufacturing and engineering capabilities for the 21st Century.

"This region's engineering heritage is world-renowned, but now we are among a select group of companies that is starting a new industrial chapter for the North East."

The firm has invested £8m in manufacturing equipment for the 6,920 square metre building.

The fully-automated plant has the potential to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rolling and welding large diameter tubulars used in the construction of offshore wind turbine jackets and foundations.

Mr Dawson added: "We are very proud to see our vision for this facility become a reality.

"The support we have received from our investors has been second-to-none as they share our passion for renewable energy and the potential it has to become a sustainable and effective part of the world's energy resources."

Constructed in readiness for the Round 3 offshore wind developments, the facility has the capacity to produce 100,000 Tonnes of tubulars each year.

As well as investing millions of pounds of its own money in the facility, TAG has secured finance for the project from investor Platina Partners, which pursues investment opportunities in renewable energy infrastructure, and the Environmental Technologies Fund, a European venture capital fund.

In addition, the company has received £3m in grants from the Department for Energy and Climate Change and regional development agency One North East.

It is a key part of a growing North-East hub of offshore wind expertise, which includes Hartlepool firm JDR Cables, a world leader in producing turbine cables, the Tekmar Group, based in Newton Aycliffe, producing cable protection devices, Clipper Windpower developing the world's largest turbine blade at a £25m plant near Newcastle, and Europe's leading wind turbine testing factory at the New and Renewable Energy Centre, in Northumberland.