Mabey Bridge ‘open for business’ as first wind farm towers rolled out

Wind farms have always divided opinion.

Manufacturer Mabey Bridge has rolled out its first batch of wind turbine towers from its factory in Chepstow, Wales, which are ready for delivery to wind farms in Yorkshire.

Mabey Bridge is the sole UK-based manufacturer of wind turbine towers. The company’s factory can produce 300 towers a year.

Last year Mabey Bridge secured a preferred supplier agreement with REpower, one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of wind energy. The engineering firm is producing nine steel tubular towers for REpower. Each completed tower is 80m long, made up of three sections, and weighs 150 tonnes.

Five towers will be stationed at the Seamer wind farm in North Yorkshire while four will also go to the Marr wind farm in South Yorkshire. Peter Lloyd, managing director of Mabey Bridge, said: “By rolling out the first completed batch of wind turbine towers we are sending out a clear message that we are open for business. It now means that companies in this country no longer have to import wind turbine towers but instead they can buy British.

“Mabey Bridge has a proud manufacturing history that dates back to 1849 and today is another significant chapter in our evolution. Our expertise and pedigree in bridge building is the perfect springboard for us to deliver half the UK’s wind turbine towers. We are delivering 240 jobs to South Wales and are reaping the rewards of our £38m investment in this state-of-the-art plant.”

The factory has been named the Bevil Mabey Structural Steelworks in honour of the man who, from 1946, transformed the family firm from a relatively small building supplies company into a world leader. Bevil Mabey died in April 2010.