Vestas May Build New Offshore Wind Turbine Manufacturing Facility In Kent
Vestas, the wind turbine manufacturer, has been looking for somewhere to build a new offshore wind turbine factory and it seems the company may have chosen Kent after signing an agreement to buy land at the Port of Sheerness.
It looks like the wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, could return to the UK, two years after it closed its manufacturing plant on the Isle of Wight. The company is looking for somewhere to build its new 7MW offshore wind turbine, almost two years after it closed its wind turbine manufacturing plant on the Isle of Wight.
Vestas has now admitted that it has managed to acquire exclusive rights to the land. If the company does decide to invest in a manufacturing facility on the site it could create around 2,000 jobs.
The Government has set a target of sourcing 15% of the country’s electricity from sources of renewable energy by the year 2020 and it seems wind farms are the most popular form of green power. Consequently, there’s likely to be a surge in the number of onshore and offshore wind farms being constructed over the next decade which may help Vestas to decide whether or not to go ahead with the plant in Kent.
The option on the land only lasts a year but the president of Vestas offshore, Anders Søe-Jensen, said a decision on a final investment would only be made if the Government could offer certain guarantees such as investment support to help reduce the risk and cost of building a large turbine manufacturing facility in the UK.
Mr Søe-Jensen said “We need to make sure it makes sense business wise. Before our customers can provide us with the needed order pipeline, they need to see stability in the market and a long term political and regulatory certainty that ensures their business case”.
He added, “Making that happen lies in the hands of the policy makers, so we are looking forward to seeing the UK government providing the best possible terms for the offshore wind industry to truly take off and the potential jobs becoming a reality”.
The old Vestas manufacturing facility on the Isle of Wight has been converted into a research and development facility for the manufacturer. It would be a significant move if the company decided to build a new manufacturing facility in the UK.