Siemens Gamesa to expand UK offshore blade manufacturing facility

Siemens Gamesa has confirmed a massive expansion of its UK offshore blade manufacturing facility, adding more than 41,000 sqm to the facility’s footprint. 

Already the largest offshore wind manufacturing facility in the UK, Siemens Gamesa is investing an additional £186 million into the site to enable the manufacture of next-generation blades in 2023. 

Located in Hull, the site will grow to a total of 77,600 sqm and add 200 additional direct jobs to the approximately 1,000 person-workforce already in place. The doubling of the site should also enable an increase in production, with more than 1,500 offshore wind turbine blades already produced in Hull since the site opened in 2016. 

“Since our offshore blade factory opened in Hull in 2016, Siemens Gamesa has proudly served as the catalyst for the powerful growth the area has seen. The rapid development of the offshore wind industry – and continued, strong, long-term support provided by the UK government for offshore wind – has enabled us to power ahead with confidence when making these plans. We’re committed to unlocking the potential of wind energy around the globe, with solutions from Hull playing a vital role,” commented Marc Becker, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit.

“Siemens Gamesa continues to be the leading supplier of offshore wind turbine technology in the world’s leading offshore wind market, the UK. Through safe, efficient, and reliable manufacturing, over 1,500 blades from Hull have been delivered to customers worldwide. We’re very much looking forward to adding to this capacity in the future.”

Manufacturing of other offshore wind turbine blade types already in the Siemens Gamesa Hull factory pipeline will continue while the expansion is constructed. In total, Siemens Gamesa has an offshore wind power order backlog of €9.4 billion as announced during its Q3 FY21 results presentation on July 30, 2021.

Clark MacFarlane, managing director of Siemens Gamesa UK, added, "The UK Government has provided strong and consistent support for offshore wind, having committed to a further 30 GW installed this decade, three times the current installed capacity. This underlines the commitment the UK Government has made since the Offshore Sector Deal was unveiled in early 2019".