Britain must win race for wind power

IT is good news that there is a strong possibility that wind turbine manufacturing could soon be coming to Humberside with the possibility of thousands of jobs (Yorkshire Post, July 18). However, and I am not belittling the possibility of new jobs, think of General Electric in the US, Alstom in France, Clipper in the US, Mitsubishi in Japan and Gamesa in Spain.

It is stated that several multinationals are waiting for Ministers to state their intentions before finally confirming their plans. Are any of them British? If not, does this confirm that Britain is no longer a world player when it comes to manufacturing, at least in engineering?

If no British companies are going to, or are not able to, tender for and get contracts to build wind turbines robust enough to be sited off-shore then foreign companies may come to Britain, lease factory buildings and fill them with hi-tech machinery to build turbines.

When the job of building all the wind farms is completed they will, having no allegiance to Britain, up sticks and take their machinery to other countries. This would then take Britain back to square one, still with no wind turbine construction capabilities to be able to supply the world.

However, as engineering is not generally vertically integrated today, so-called turbine building plants only being assembly plants with parts brought in, this should not deter British companies from sub-contracting to the main contractor to supply parts.

David Brown of Huddersfield is spending a great deal of money trying to solve the problem of main-bearing failure because of the huge torque exerted by the large blades on these bearings being a major source of breakdowns. Hopefully, David Brown will solve this problem and become a major supplier of bearings. If they or another company does not then in the not too distance future the sheer cost of the maintenance of off-shore wind-farms will make them uneconomic and there will be a big rush to bring forward the completion of nuclear power stations to make up the shortfall of power.

From: Brian Waddington, Dukes Wharf, York.

OUR Victorian manufacturers and engineers must be turning in their graves at the news that companies from France, Spain, Germany and the US are all considering building factories in the Humberside area to produce wind turbines and associated equipment for the proposed North Sea installations (Yorkshire Post, July 18). Has British manufacturing sunk to such a low level that no UK company can be considered?

We have got used to most of our textiles being sourced abroad and our cruise ships built in Finland or Italy. Even our existing engineering companies are spurned by this Government with the cancellation of the proposed loan to Sheffield Forgemasters.

This begs the question, if we have no businesses capable of carrying out this work, is there sufficient skilled labour to service any production facilities that may be constructed. Or does it mean that we will need to import engineers and other staff from the EU and elsewhere? It is time this Government got to grips with the continual decline in British manufacturing.

From: Tony Morris, Lee Lane East, Horsforth, Leeds.

IT was interesting to hear from Paul Alexander on the subject (Yorkshire Post, July 21) of power generation from rivers via Archimedean screws. As a fisherman I am relieved to hear they do not interfere with the movement of migratory fish. But what happens in a drought?

The dash for wind power is regrettably incessant, in spite of its low efficiency. But then when grants are available, and profits within sight, who can blame them?

My concern is the apparent sidelining of large tidal turbines. The three-month test in the Humber, organised by an engineering company based in Sunderland under the direction of Hull University and others, was concluded in December last. It was deemed a success. There are eight tidal sites in the UK suitable for estuarial or tidal power production. The impression abroad is that we either don’t care or can’t support these clever developments.

Neither in nor out

From: Michael Swaby, Hainton Avenue, Grimsby.

IT is good that John Mason MSP enjoyed his holiday in Yorkshire and that he supports your campaign, for the rest of his letter is rather dreary (Yorkshire Post, July 13).

Regarding an extra payment “to compensate us for a loss of sovereignty”, Mr Mason is a little late. The 1707 Act of Union gave Scotland an opportunity to recover from its disaster in the swamps of Darien (now Panama). The settlement included financial provisions so generous, that they were viewed by some as bribes. Of course, subsequently the Scottish were to play a huge role in the development of Great Britain and the Empire.

In the present differing circumstances, this Englishman does not wish to “keep Scotland in the UK”, nor indeed to drive it out. Should Mr Mason’s party lead Scotland to independence, I shall be both sad and among those to offer congratulations.