The UK's offshore wind sector received another boost, today, when Danish turbine giant Vestas confirmed plans to site a facility in Kent to manufacturer its biggest ever blade, potentially creating more than 2000 jobs.

Vestas, which just a few weeks ago launched its new seven megawatt (MW) turbine, the V164-7.0 MW, said it has signed an agreement to transform 70 hectares of land at the Port of Sheerness in Kent into a plant capable of manufacturing the giant blade. However, the investment will only come through, if the company is satisfied Government policy secures the necessary demand.

"Before our customers can provide us with the needed order pipeline, they need to see stability in the market and a long term political and regulatory certainty that ensures their business case," said Anders Søe-Jensen, president of Vestas Offshore. "Making that happen lies in the hands of the policy-makers, so we are looking forward to seeing the UK Government providing the best possible terms for the offshore wind industry to truly take off and the potential jobs becoming a reality."

Potential
Vestas announcement underlines the potential of the UK's offshore wind industry. It follows investment pledges by other manufacturers, including Siemens, GE, Mitsubishi and Clipper Windpower.

At the moment, the company has an option to buy the lease at the Port of Sheerness in line with its plans to go into serial production on the V164-7.0 MW in 2015, in time for the next round of UK offshore farms under Round 3 of the licensing system. Vestas said the investment would create more than 2000 direct and indirect new jobs.

Vestas is looking to build its V164-7.0 MW in the UK because it already represents the biggest offshore market, at 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity so far developed. However, that market is set to expand massively with a pipeline of around 45 GW, which would be capable of supplying 40 per cent of the UK's electricity needs.

Concerns
However, the industry is still concerned that Government policy is not ambitious enough to attract sufficient levels of investment.

Following Vestas' announcement, Maria McCaffery, chief executive of industry trade body RenewableUK, said today: "We have an unprecedented situation where some of the best known companies in the world are literally queuing up to invest in the UK. The Government now needs to seal the deal on offshore: it needs to bag the first 8,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of pounds already pledged, by firmly supporting the technology."

Conditions
Vestas, which will begin building a prototype of the V164-7.0 at its new research and development facility on the Isle of Wight next year, said before it is prepared to commit to investing in the Port of Sheerness plant, it will first be seeking a stable policy framework to ensure market and regulatory certainty and, secondly, public investment support to "de-risk and reduce" the infrastructure investment required by such a facility.

"We have shown our intentions to make major investments and subsequent job creation, but it is evident that we don't just jump head first into an investment of this size. We need to make sure it makes sense business wise," says Søe-Jensen.