Wind power firms plan UK sites, to create jobs

A general view shows a wind farm near Eaglesham, Scotland May 20, 2009.

LONDON (Reuters) - Three global wind farm companies stepped up their commitment to Britain's growing renewable energy industry on Thursday by announcing plans to build factories and research centers, creating up to 1,400 jobs.

German engineering services company Siemens, Spanish wind power developer Gamesa and Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas said on Thursday they planned to build wind turbine factories and research centers in strategic coastal towns across Britain.

Siemens signed an initial contract to build a new factory at the port of Hull, while Gamesa's factory would be based in Dundee and a research facility would open in Glasgow.

But their investments depend on securing a share of the 60 million pound ($95.9 million) budget that the government has earmarked for adapting Britain's ports to growing demand for renewable energy infrastructure, the companies said.

"The race for offshore wind manufacturing jobs is on (...) I'm determined the UK economy benefits from the opportunities and jobs of the offshore wind supply chain," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne.

Vestas announced that it would open a new blade development and test center on the Isle of Wight this summer, making up to 400 jobs for skilled engineers available.

The company closed a turbine manufacturing factory on the island in 2009, leaving hundreds of workers jobless.

GOVT WAITING FOR PROPOSALS

Together with the Siemens and Gamesa projects, these programs would create up to 1,400 jobs at a time when workers across the country are increasingly worried about losing employment amid severe government spending cuts.

"Our plans for Glasgow and the potential for Dundee could generate significant local, skilled and sustainable jobs over the coming years," said Gamesa Chairman Jorge Calvet.

The government said it had not decided how to allocate the port funding and that it was waiting for proposals to come through, according to a spokesman.

Siemens said in October it was planning on opening its UK offshore wind factory in time for 2014, investing around 80 million pounds.

Gamesa plans to invest 150 million euros into Britain's UK offshore wind power industry through 2014.

At the beginning of December, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced it would spend up to 100 million pounds over five years on an offshore wind turbine research and development center based in Edinburgh, adding up to 200 jobs by 2015.

The chief executive of Swedish utility Vattenfall said on Wednesday that the company was planning on opening a new UK headquarters office in London.

The utility expects to invest billions of pounds until 2015 into Britain's wind industry, which it described on Thursday at the Nordic-Baltic summit held in London as its "number one priority" in the area of renewable energy.

Britain aims to build 32 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity -- equivalent to 32 large nuclear power reactors -- to meet legally binding renewable energy targets.

Statistics released by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) showed on Wednesday that Britain had moved to the world's leading position in installed offshore wind capacity at 1,341 megawatts (MW), followed by Denmark and the Netherlands.

(Editing by Jane Baird)