It is a good day for the UK's offshore wind energy sector as two companies announce major investment plans totaling $374 million on Monday.
Siemens Gamesa announced expansion plans to more than double its offshore blade-manufacturing factory in the eastern city of Hull in England.
An investment of £186 million has been assigned for the expansion that will provide 200 additional direct jobs, and which is planned for completion in 2023.
Plans to manufacture other types of offshore wind turbine blades are already in the Siemens Gamesa Hull factory pipeline while construction takes place for the factory expansion.
The company produced over 1,500 offshore wind turbine blades in Hull since opening in 2016.
GRI Renewable Industries, a Spanish manufacturer of wind towers and industrial wind components, said it would invest around €100 million ($117 million) to build a factory at the Able Marine Energy Park on the east coast of the UK.
The factory will initially supply 100 offshore towers per year after completion and create over 300 direct jobs.
The UK, currently a world leader in offshore wind with more operational capacity than any other country, committed to increasing offshore wind capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2030.
Currently, the country has over 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity.
By Zeynep BeyzaKilic
Anadolu Agency
enerji@aa.com.tr