Clipper Windpower, the Carpinteria, Calif., wind turbine maker is planning to build a plant in the UK to take advantage of an expected growth in demand for offshore wind turbines — see here for the official press release.
Last January Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government announced an ambitious £75 billion ($119 billion / €87.7 billion) project to build thousands of offshore wind farms. With this factory Clipper intends to become a leading supplier for what is expected to be one of the world’s largest market for offshore wind turbines.
The Clipper factory, located near the town Tyne, in the north of England, will manufacturer large blades and is expected to be operational in the third quarter of this year. At full capacity production could average 1 gigawatt a year and employ up to 500 workers.
The factory will initially supply blades to the 10 megawatts Britannia offshore wind project.
The UK government’s offshore wind policy has been largely praised but some critics have pointed out that the country manufacturing capacity when it comes to renewable energy technology is thin, which will make it difficult for the UK to deploy all of these expected wind turbines.
Construction of the Clipper plant is partly supported by a UK Department of Energy and Climate Change £4.46 million ($7.95 million /€ 5.12 million) grant.