CLIPPER Windpower Marine has started construction of an offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in what is a coup for the English north-east.
The new factory, a 4,000sq m facility, is expected to be completed by Q3 this year, create hundreds of jobs and build the largest turbine blades yet attempted anywhere.
The site is owned by the City of Newcastle and is being developed by Shepherd Offshore Services. Assuming that expansion of the offshore market is in line with Government goals and that Clipper turbines represent about 1,000 megawatts of power-generation capability per year of development, the factory is expected to employ a local workforce in excess of 500.
The factory will be used to develop and build blades for the “Britannia Project”, a 10MW offshore wind turbine prototype under development by Clipper at its Narec facility at Blyth, Northumberland.
The prototype is scheduled for deployment in late-2012 and is among the largest wind turbines under development in the wind industry. The blades will be 72m long and weigh more than 30 tonnes. Assuming no untoward hitches, the prototype Britannia-class turbine will go to the UK’s Crown Estates under an agreement reached with Clipper during Q1 2008. That agreement covered a 7.5MW machine, since when ambitions have been upgraded.
A Department of Energy and Climate Change grant of £4.46million was awarded to Clipper in September 2009.
This grant is intended to accelerate development and demonstration of offshore wind technologies and components for multi-megawatt turbines.
Accordingly, the grant will contribute toward some of the costs associated with the development of the Britannia offshore wind turbine blade and factory.
Clipper is an American company which, in 2006, teamed up with BP in a strategic alliance for a long-term turbine supply agreement.
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