Industry leaders told region could be global leader in wind power race

Industry leaders gathered in York yesterday to discuss the economic potential of the wind farms planned off the Yorkshire coast over the next decade.

The Yorkshire Post’s Powering the Future campaign has been fighting to bring the thousands of jobs linked to turbine construction to this region. Last month Siemens announced plans to build a huge new manufacturing plant at the ABP port site at Hull.

Yesterday industry experts said more large manufacturers and supply-chain firms are now likely to locate to similar areas close to where the wind farms will be.

Andy Kinsella of Mainstream Renewable Power, which is constructing a huge wind farm off the coast of Hornsea, said: “This is a massive opportunity for this region. We see these ports as ‘super-clusters’ – the full logistics chain will coalesce around these manufacturing points.”

The UK is now the world’s leading market for offshore wind, and Mr Kinsella said that with the right investment it will soon be building turbines to sell around the world.

“This is probably the first time in 60 or 70 years that Europe is ahead of the rest of the world in technological terms,” he said.

“The clustering of this industry in this region becomes a worldwide opportunity for export.”

US giant GE and Spanish energy firm Gamesa are still considering where on the east coast to put their own construction plants.

Jose Chueca of Gamesa said: “This is a huge opportunity and we want to be a part of it. On the manufacturing side we will decide soon. The target is to be as close as possible to the project.”