Huge boost for UK manufacturing, with blades for the 64 wind turbines to be manufactured in Siemens Gamesa’s Hull factory, which provides 1,300 local jobs.
The turbine blades for ScottishPower’s £4 billion East Anglia TWO offshore windfarm will be built in Hull after the green energy company formalised a turbine supply agreement with Siemens Gamesa worth more than £1 billion.
The agreement will see Siemens Gamesa supply 64 of its flagship SG 14-236 DD* offshore wind turbines, which have a rotor diameter of 236 metres – almost as tall as the observation deck at the Shard – for ScottishPower’s third offshore wind project in the southern North Sea.
Situated almost 33km off the Suffolk coat, East Anglia TWO will have the capacity to generate up to 960MW of green electricity – enough to power the equivalent of almost one million homes.
The 115 metres-long blades will be manufactured at Siemens Gamesa’s offshore wind blade factory in Hull, which now employs around 1,300 people after recruiting more than 600 new employees over the last 12 months.
The contract award comes just after ScottishPower announced it is doubling its investment in the UK – from £12 billion to £24 billion – between 2024 and 2028.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower will fire up our industrial heartlands and break down barriers to growth in our hard-working towns and cities.
“It will strengthen our national security -?protecting our children and grandchildren from the climate crisis, and impact this will have on their future prosperity. ?
“By acting decisively and early, the UK has an opportunity to lead the world in the industries of the future — working in partnership with businesses like ScottishPower and Siemens Energy — creating real energy security, cutting energy bills and building jobs and supply chains in the UK. ?
“But we can’t move alone – and at COP I will lead efforts to protect Britain from climate change by also working with other countries to accelerate the global clean transition to tackle the causes at its root.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “This investment is a huge vote of confidence in the UK’s growing renewables sector and will power our clean energy future – supporting skilled jobs and green growth in Hull and beyond.
“Offshore wind is the backbone of our clean power 2030 mission; every new turbine in our waters helps us boost energy security, protect consumers, and tackle the climate crisis.
“We are making the UK a clean energy superpower, backing industry to build cleaner, global supply chains, and to drive investment into our country.”
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower, said: “Today is tangible proof of the importance of Britain’s Clean Power Mission – our East Anglia projects are delivering UK jobs, UK supply chain contracts and UK green energy.
“Getting more projects like East Anglia TWO off the blocks quicker will turbo-boost the UK’s supply chain, giving companies like Siemens Gamesa the confidence to invest in facilities like this blade factory in Hull.
“Britain’s clean power targets are achievable but demanding. We’ve doubled our investment and are ready to play our part with Government as it gets barriers out the way to build more projects like this, alongside the electricity networks needed to ferry green, homegrown power across the country.”
Siemens Gamesa is the fully owned wind business of Siemens Energy with more than 6,000 employees in the UK. Darren Davidson, UK and Ireland Vice President for Siemens Energy and Siemens Gamesa said: “The UK is the first leading industrial country to simultaneously phase out coal power and be a leader in offshore wind. If we’re to achieve our net zero targets, it’s mission critical this momentum is maintained. As well as delivering the blades to power the UK’s energy transition, our factory in Hull is acting as a catalyst for economic growth and green jobs across the region.”
East Anglia TWO’s success in the new UK Government’s Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 (AR6) in September 2024 comes 14 years after the seabed rights for the windfarm were awarded by the last Labour government under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and when Ed Miliband was previously Energy Secretary.
Getting projects like East Anglia TWO through the system quicker was a key takeaway at the UK Government’s recent International Investment Summit*, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the country needs to “rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment” for clean energy projects.
East Anglia is the heart of ScottishPower’s offshore wind operations in the UK, with East Anglia ONE in operation; East Anglia THREE under construction; and supply chain being put in place for East Anglia TWO.
Collectively, these windfarms – all of them equipped with Siemens Gamesa turbines – will produce enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of more than three million homes.
