The North East’s position as a leader in the wind energy sector has been boosted by a major player in the industry setting up a base at the Port of Tyne.
Dutch firm Van Oord, which already has a presence at Port of Blyth, will use the Tyne Clean Energy Park as a storage and marshalling base for the foundations of the 100-turbine Sofia Offshore Wind Farm currently being built in the North Sea.
The contract will see the River Tyne welcome the tallest offshore vessel in the Port’s history, Van Oord’s Aeolus, with the base likely to be operational from the start of next year. Van Oord’s new base will benefit from direct access to a deep-water quay, with enabling work starting soon to upgrade the quay strength.
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Van Oord is handing the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the wind turbine foundations and inter-array cables for the Sofia Wind Farm, which is now under construction. It is hoped the wind farm will open by 2026 and provide enough power for around 1.2m homes.
Matt Beeton, chief executive at Port of Tyne said: “We are delighted to partner with Van Oord in delivering another exciting step as we look to accelerate the region’s path towards a clean energy future. The Tyne Clean Energy Park continues to be the closest major offshore wind development platform for developers operating in the North Sea, as we look to accelerate the country’s green energy revolution to triple the rate of wind turbine installation to hit the national 2030 target, creating jobs for the future and a skilled workforce for generations to come.”
Last week offshore firms Equinor and SSE Renewables opened their base at Port of Tyne for the Dogger Bank wind farm in the North Sea. The base is creating around 400 jobs, but it is hoped that it will attract other firms to the area to build up an offshore energy cluster on the river.
At last week’s launch, Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart said the UK had become one of the best places in the world for offshore wind development. But there has been a warning that the UK might fail to secure as much investment in renewable energy as it hopes as costs in the sector increase and the Government indicated offshore energy producers would have to accept lower prices.
Michael Chesser, from RenewableUK, said: “Unfortunately, in the light of global inflationary pressures, the Budget and parameters set for this year’s Contracts for Difference auction are currently too low and too tight to unlock all the potential investment in wind, solar and tidal stream projects which the industry could deliver.
“At a time when the US and EU are bending over backwards to offer incentives for renewable energy developers to come to them to build new projects, the UK is sending the wrong investment signals.”
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