Mitsubishi wind centre jobs boost for Tyneside
HUNDREDS of jobs could be coming to the North East with the creation of a £100m wind turbine research centre.
Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government to invest the cash in research and development into green energy.
And business secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday said the firm was looking at a number of sites in the region as potential bases for the centre, which could create 1,500 jobs.
It comes a week after American giant Clipper revealed it was moving into a factory in Walker Riverside, in Newcastle’s East End, where it will build turbine blades the size of jumbo jets.
Mitsubishi is yet to finalise exactly where it will locate its research and development base, but regeneration chiefs see the North East as the ideal location due to the region’s current expertise in this area and the existence of huge swathes of vacant industrial land, particularly along the banks of the Tyne.
And the Prime Minister is said to be of the same opinion, having described the North East as “leading the world” in the growing renewable energy sector.
Lord Mandelson signed the memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi, along with climate change secretary Ed Miliband, both of whom spent the end of last week in the region.
Mitsubishi chief executive Akio Fukui said the firm will build a prototype wind turbine within three years and that full-scale production will start after four years.
The turbines will be for offshore wind farms and will be offered for sale in overseas markets such as Germany, the United States and China as well as the United Kingdom.
Lord Mandelson said 200 jobs would initially be created, but that the scale of the development had the potential to generate as many as 1,500.
He added: “No country makes offshore wind turbines of the size we are talking about today on a commercial scale.
“Twenty years ago, the UK was a leading centre for onshore wind technology, but we failed to capitalise on that by not providing the right climate for growth.
“We are determined not to let that happen again. We are creating the largest market in the world for offshore wind and we intend to build and support the industry.”
Mr Miliband said: “This decision by Mitsubishi is a sign that the UK is starting to turn its leadership in offshore wind generation into leadership in manufacturing.
“We have the wind resource and we now have an industry that is really starting to grow.
“This is possible because of our domestic market and our commitment to supporting companies that locate here. It is another step to turning Britain into a leading green manufacturing centre.”
Mr Fukui said: “We have been working with UK Trade and Investment for some time and we look forward to further growing our offshore wind business with UK-based partner and supply chain businesses from 2010, bringing much needed competition into the offshore wind turbine supply market, and economic benefit to the UK.”
The news has also been welcomed in the region, with the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), in Blyth, Northumberland, describing it as another key piece in the jigsaw of the UK and the region leading the way on the creation of green energy.
Narec CEO Andrew Mill said: “Today’s news of the MOU signed between BIS and Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe (MPSE) is further testament to the commitment of the UK Government to realise a UK offshore wind industry. Narec welcomes this investment and looks forward to working with MPSE on their R&D programme.”
The Mitsubishi announcement comes seven days after the Clipper deal was announced. The US-firm will build the world’s largest turbine blades in the new factory, being built by Shepherd Offshore on the site of the former Neptune shipyard.
That factory takes up just one fifth of the Neptune site, which itself makes up only a tiny part of the vacant industrial land that stretches from Newcastle to the mouth of the Tyne. Speaking at the launch last week, the PM hinted at more announcements for the region, saying: “They will be the start of other companies coming here and the start of other developments, which will mean Britain is maintaining its position as number one in this field.”
The Mitsubishi deal is underpinned by £30m investment from the Government. British Wind and Energy Association chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “This all signals the rebirth of manufacturing in the UK, with an estimated 70,000 green-collar jobs to be created on the back of over £100bn of private sector investment.The combined contribution from both on and offshore wind is set to contribute up to half of the UK’s domestic electricity requirement by 2020, dramatically reducing our dependency on imported fossil fuels and displacing millions of tonnes of harmful CO2 every year.
“It is not an exaggeration to speak of offshore wind as the new North Sea oil.”
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “The Mitsubishi announcement is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s renewable sector. We are clearly now open for business and, importantly, we are now winning business.
“The green manufacturing revolution is now becoming a reality. It comes on the same day that Siemens, alongside the Carbon Trust, has made a key investment into Marine Current Turbines, a leading British marine energy company.
“Both announcements signal clearly that the UK can and will create significant economic benefit and attract inward investment from the move to a low-carbon economy, particularly in the offshore renewables sector.”
Turbine test facility gets £18.5m grant
GIANT wind turbines will be tested off the North East coast thanks to an £18.5m Government grant.
The cash was awarded to the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), in Blyth, Northumberland, which will build an offshore facility to trial the huge structures before they are sent out to sea.
Narec has already secured investment to test turbine blades and motors, and the latest deal serves to bolster its reputation as a world leader in this field.
The announcement was made by business secretary Lord Mandelson and climate change minister Ed Miliband and was welcomed in the North East.
Lord Mandelson said: "I’m delighted that we are also supporting the wind test site in the North East.
"Coming on top of funding for Narec announced in the Pre-Budget Report, it further strengthens the North East’s position as a leader in the offshore wind farm sector."
The announcement of £18.5m to build an offshore test site was made by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills yesterday.
It will see giant turbines "plugged into" test units as close as 50m to the North East coastline, where they will be put through their paces before being sent out to sea for use in wind farms.
The scale of the latest offshore turbines is enormous.
When the announcement was made last week that the Clipper Windpower Marine factory would be built on the banks of the Tyne, the turbines it will construct were described as being the size of the Eiffel Tower with a wingspan the size of Big Ben.
The Narec centre will have the capacity to test 20 prototype turbines at a time and the new deal comes after the Crown Estate, which overseas British waters, announced the latest set of locations where wind farms will be based.
That all forms part of efforts to meet European Union targets for the amount of energy generated from green sources by 2020.
Narec CEO Andrew Mill said: "We very much welcome this funding award and the continued support we have received from central government and regional development agency One North East, which is creating a national hub in North East England for the development of offshore wind technologies. The facility will be unique in global research and development terms, enabling manufacturers and wind farm developers to identify best practice approaches across the supply chain for the development, deployment and operation and management of new turbine technologies, which will be most pertinent to the Crown Estate round three programme."
Ian Williams, director of business and industry at One North East, said: "We are delighted the Government has chosen to support this groundbreaking project.
"One North East has been investing in this new market for almost a decade now. Through national investments like this and the plans Clipper announced last week to create hundreds of jobs on the Tyne, the region is now beginning to reap the rewards of this dynamic new industry."
Historic gem returns
A SPIN OFF from a greener energy project will see a huge Tyneside-built steam turbine become the first of its size to go on public display.
The 25-tonne turbine, designed and built in 1967 at the Newcastle Parsons works, was transported back to the North East yesterday from Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire where it has been generating electricity for Britain’s households for the past 36 years.
It has finished its working life at the power station and will be replaced by more efficient Siemens turbines in a £100m modernisation project, the biggest in UK history.
Siemens, which acquired the Parsons site in 1997, is helping to cut Drax’s carbon dioxide emissions by a million tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking more than a quarter of a million cars off the road.
The Drax turbine was taken yesterday to the regional museum’s store at Beamish Museum in County Durham, and later this year will go on display in Newcastle’s Discovery Museum.
It will join Turbinia, the first vessel in the world to be powered by steam turbines, which is a centrepiece of the city centre museum.
The Drax steam turbine is part of the historic first 660 megawatt (MW) steam turbine generating sets, the largest in the United Kingdom. Carl Ennis, managing director of Siemens Energy Service in Newcastle, said: "The refurbishment of the Drax machines illustrates the continuing role of world-leading engineering expertise on Tyneside in meeting the demands for greener energy.
"The partnership with Drax and Discovery Museum will give the public a unique insight into how these local engineers continue to meet modern challenges in the power generation industry and how science and technology continues to impact our lives."
Siemens chief turbine engineer Geoff Horseman worked alongside the turbine designers from the 1960s and manages the company’s history archive.
He said: "We couldn’t think of a better final resting place than the Discovery Museum to showcase the amazing engineering heritage that we have in the North East."
John Clayson, who is the keeper of science and industry for Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, added: "The Drax turbines are visually impressive, and this project will provide an excellent showcase of large power generation turbine technology alongside the pioneering vessel Turbinia."
Siemens has been working with Drax to dismantle, transport, create display rigs, install the turbine parts and provide labour and engineering advice throughout the project.
Steve Austin, turbine engineer at Drax, said : "The steam turbine modernisation project will not only save a million tonnes of carbon dioxide, it has given everyone the chance to view a piece of living history and we look forward to seeing the turbine on display."