Exclusive: Yorkshire on brink of wind power revolution

Preliminary work is under way on two of the world's largest offshore wind farms just miles from the Yorkshire coast – and industry leaders say the region is perfectly placed to become the leading manufacturing base for the 400ft turbines required – potentially creating tens of thousands of jobs.

Regional planners believe the fledgling offshore wind industry could help revive Yorkshire's manufacturing past, boosting firms along the supply chain while also creating a new service industry maintaining thousands of turbines in the North Sea.

Industry experts today go even further, envisaging a future where the region builds and exports turbines to locations around the globe over the coming decades.

Such a glittering prize is far from guaranteed, however. Yorkshire faces stiff competition to become the hub of this major new industry from rival sites further up the North-East coastline.

The Yorkshire Post is therefore today launching its Powering Yorkshire's Future campaign, calling on the Government, planners and private enterprise to encourage turbine manufacturers to base themselves on the banks of the Humber.

Britain's unique geographical location means it has the greatest potential for offshore wind power in the world.

Industry veteran Eddie O'Connor, who heads the consortium which will build a huge 800-turbine wind farm off the coast of Hornsea over the next 10 years, said: "This is a once-in-a-

lifetime opportunity.

"We are looking at a whole new creation of industrial wealth in Britain, the likes of which it has not seen since the industrial revolution.

"The Government said it expects 70,000 new jobs to be created from this industry by 2020. I think we could be looking at between 10 and 20 times that number by 2030 and 2040.

"We're looking at not only you being employed, but your children and on."

An even larger 1,800-turbine wind farm is also planned to the north of the Hornsea scheme, and three leading manufacturers, Siemens, GE and Mitsubishi, have already announced they will base factories somewhere along the east coast.

Initial estimates suggest up to 10,000 jobs could be created by a turbine production hub.

"This is a major opportunity for the UK," said Peter Clusky, manager of renewables for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

"These opportunities don't come along too often. North Sea oil is a good comparison – the overall investment level with this will be even larger."

The head of Siemens' UK wind power operation, Christoph Ehlers, said his firm was weighing up the pros and cons of different locations along the east coast. Much is likely to depend on a Government competition offering infrastructure funding for British ports.

Locations on the north and south banks of the Humber will be among the front-runners, and Mr Ehlers agreed the winning location could become an export hub manufacturing turbines for Europe and beyond.

"That's part of the overall strategy," he said. "It makes absolute sense that we utilise this infrastructure not only for Europe but possibly globally. With the right support this is not a dream scenario – this is realistic."

The director of policy at Yorkshire and Humber Chambers of Commerce, Nick Pontone, last night gave his backing to the Yorkshire Post campaign.

"Yorkshire and Humber has the location, manufacturing expertise, skills and ambition to become a world leader in this emerging sector," he said.