UK wind turbine tower manufacturer Mabey Bridge has won a multi-million-pound order with Nordex to build wind farm towers for a Scottish development.
The firm, based in Wales, is to manufacture and supply 35 towers, between 65 and 70 metres in length and weighing 120 tonnes, starting from mid-February.
Of the 35, 21 towers are set for installation in June 2012 at the Baillie wind farm, owned by local windfarm developers and Statkraft, near Thurso on the north coast of Scotland.
The remaining 14 will be installed at the Pant-Y-Wal site near Rhondda in South Wales. This is the first time turbine towers installed in Wales have been made by a Welsh manufacturer.
The contract will see Mabey Bridge introduce 24-hours-per day working for the first time at its new £38million dedicated wind turbine tower manufacturing facility.
About 170 staff will be working on the contract. Some 45 of those are new staff and others have been transferred across from its bridge-building operation to meet demand.
Mabey Bridge UK director Alex Smale said: “2011 was a challenging year for the wind turbine industry overall, with the latest available figures putting the number of new towers installed onshore in the UK last year at fewer than 250.
“Against this backdrop, the signing of a 35-tower deal with Nordex is a real boost for all the staff working at Mabey Bridge. We are very excited by the market currently and expect to make further announcements soon.”
Maria McCaffery, chief executive of RenewableUK, the trade association representing the renewable-energy industries, said: “More than 10,600 people are working in the wind industry at the moment. Our evidence-based studies show that figure is set to rise to more than 88,000 by 2021. Announcements like this are turning that ambition into a reality.”
With the opening of its new facility in May last year, Mabey Bridge transferred 162 years of bridge-building expertise into the manufacture of wind turbine towers.
At full capacity the factory can produce 300 towers per annum using the latest techniques, including computer-controlled cutting and rolling, robotic welding, steel-blasting up to the highest quality and an automated painting facility.
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