Bernard Ginns: Firms waiting for wind to blow their way in Energy Bill

Siemens, the German engineering giant, has chosen Hull as its preferred location to develop its new offshore wind turbine assembly and export facility.

Backers say the Green Port project at Alexandra Dock has the potential to be the single biggest influence on Hull’s economy for generations.

International energy firms and their suppliers like Siemens are waiting for the coalition’s much-delayed Energy Bill, which is making its way through Parliament, to set out the available subsidies before making financial commitments to the UK.

Speaking at the Yorkshire Post Environment Awards on Wednesday evening, the Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey said: “I think we will have good news for the offshore wind industry in the next month or so, which will see offshore wind projects going ahead.

“You have got Westermost Rough [the Dong Energy offshore windfarm]; you have got the Humber Gateway [E.ON UK offshore windfarm], so I think the offshore wind industry in terms of developers has a good future just off the coast of Yorkshire.

“But I know you want to win those turbine factories. You want to see the supply chain coming to Yorkshire and I think you will. Certainly, we are working hard to bring it here.”

That sounds encouraging. A lot of work has gone into preparing the ground for the Green Port project, not least by Associated British Ports, which signed a memorandum of understanding with Siemens back in 2011 to develop the factory.

I hear that Siemens is set to discuss the investment case for Hull at its board meeting in Munich in mid-July and papers have already been prepared, while planning permissions are in place.

It is believed that Siemens is keen to get as much support as it can from the Government in areas like port infrastructure before it commits to a long lease and considers itself to be in a strong bargaining position.

But there are other international investors who are also paying close attention to the UK energy market. Japanese investors will be studying Government announcements very closely, particularly in relation to strike prices. They are believed to have identified investment opportunities in Yorkshire and Kent, which might suggest that Siemens is not the only game in town. The story rumbles on and might be nearing its conclusion.

But could there be a twist in the tail? To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.

Edward Davey is the Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton.

Surbiton was the location for The Good Life TV sitcom, which starred the late, great Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall as a couple trying to adopt a sustainable, simple and self-sufficient lifestyle.

Given the theme of our evening it was appropriate that their MP was our guest speaker at the Yorkshire Post Environment Awards, something I remarked upon in my introduction to the event.

Mr Davey took up the theme in his address, in which he argued that the evidence for climate change is “overwhelming”.

He told the audience: “Tackling climate change does not mean lots of sacrifice. You don’t have to do the Good Life in Surbiton to address climate change. Actually, there’s jobs in it. There’s investment in it. There’s business in tackling climate change. This can be really good for our economy. We can build a much more sustainable economy if we have a green economy.

“Also, it isn’t going to cost the earth. If you read some of our newspapers – not the Yorkshire Post – they will have you believe that energy policies are costing you the earth when in fact energy policies are going to save the earth and long term are going to reduce people’s costs.

“Even in the short term, if we get the policy right, they can be very affordable. We have got to win that political case.”

Mr Davey pointed out that Yorkshire has seen more than 10 per cent of the UK investment in renewables since the coalition was formed.

That equates to £2.9bn, an investment which has underpinned the creation of nearly 4,000 jobs.

Next month, his Government will decide whether to give the green light to the Able Marine Energy Park on the south bank of the Humber, an even bigger site than Green Port Hull that could have a similar effect on the economy across the estuary.

Judge politicians by their deeds, not words.