Tata Steel said today it is to invest £2million in its Hartlepool tube works and has forged a supply deal with a German manufacturer in a bid to meet demand in the offshore wind turbine jacket market.
The Hartlepool development will establish a central supply base for steel tubular sections to be used in the fabrication of wind turbine steel foundation structures, known as jacket foundations.
Work on the site is to start in October and is due to be complete by Spring next year, Tata said.
Components will be manufactured from tubulars at the new facility and prepared for welding into the finished structures.
Materials will then be stored for shipment in kit form to fabricators in the UK and mainland Europe using local deepwater ports and the UK rail network.
Ramsay Ross, director for tubes at Tata Steel, said: “This investment reinforces Tata Steel’s commitment to establishing a significant presence as a supplier to the renewables sector as the drive to transform the energy supply scene in the EU gathers pace.
“The wind tower hub in Scunthorpe, which was launched last year to process and distribute steel plate for fabricators, was a key step in this strategy.
“This separate development, in which we will be modifying buildings and investing in new assets at Hartlepool, is the next stage.”
The supply deal will be with steel tube producer Eisenbau Krämer (EBK).
Under the supply agreement tubes will be produced by Tata Steel and EBK from plate manufactured by Tata Steel’s plants in Scunthorpe or Dalzell.