Hopes of job bonanza as coastal wind farm backed

Developers E.ON say the Humber Gateway wind farm, near the mouth of the River Humber, will supply enough green energy to power 150,000 homes.

The news has been welcomed in Hull where thousands of jobs are on the cards through plans announced by Siemens for a multi-million pound manufacturing plant for offshore wind turbines.

Hull Council leader Carl Minns said: “Clearly given the Siemens announcement – and there will be more announcements in the coming year over more jobs in this sector for Hull and the wider area – it is in our interest to get as many fields as we can up and running.

“Many of the fields will have ‘Made in Hull’ stamped all over them.”

Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Tony Bosworth said: “This new wind farm is great news for people in Yorkshire and the environment.

“The UK’s renewable energy potential is huge – and with Government support this country could be a world leader in green power.

“Ministers must throw their weight behind the green energy revolution to slash carbon emissions and create thousands of new green jobs and business opportunities.”

Fishermen said, however, that it would impinge on a lobster breeding and catching ground and threaten livelihoods. The farm is the first of up to four, including the Westernmost Rough field only eight miles away and the vast Hornsea and Dogger Bank wind farms.

Steve Cowan, chairman of the Bridlington and Flamborough Fishermen’s Society said: “Humber Gateway is 35sq km, Westernmost Rough another 35sq km, and then there are the two off Hornsea which are three or four times the size.

“It’s bad enough having one, but having four on our doorstep is going to have a massive detrimental effect.”

E.ON, which last year completed its fourth offshore wind farm, the £325m Robin Rigg farm in the Solway Firth, and which is a partner in the London Array, set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm when built, said it was talking to local fishermen.

A spokeswoman said: “There will be some temporary restrictions during the construction phase and we will work with them to minimise disruption to them.”

Work is due to start in 2013/2014.