GE's new plant in the UK approved

GE Renewable Energy said it has received approval for its Teesside offshore wind blade manufacturing plant in the UK, which allows them to begin construction on the South Bank of Teesworks.

The facility should produce 107-meter- long offshore wind turbine blades, and will be operated by LM Wind Power.

“There is still a lot of work in front of us but this is an important milestone for the construction and future opening of the facility. We are proud of the contribution we will be making in rejuvenating this industrial cluster and helping it play a key role in the future of renewable energy,” Olivier Fontan, President & CEO of LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy company, said in a statement.

The company said that the recruitment for the plant is scheduled to begin in mid-2022, with an estimated 750 direct positions to be filled. 

The company said in the statement that once the production begins, the  Dogger Bank offshore wind farm would benefit directly from the blades produced at this new plant. 

“The three phases of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, powered by GE’s Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, will have a combined installed generation capacity of 3.6 GW, enough to power six million UK homes,” said the company.

Dogger Bank is expected to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm upon completion in 2026.