May
2011
Wind turbine jobs are coming – possibly
Today’s announcement by Vestas that it will be building its new 7 MW offshore wind turbine is being broadly trumpeted, particularly by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.
The company said the plan was reliant on market and regulatory certainty and public investment to reduce the risk of building a facility of such a size. In other words, Vestas needs both an order pipeline and government backing sufficient to move forward.
These are significant caveats. Ongoing efforts by the government to reform the electricity market could end up making the UK a less attractive location for wind farm developers than it has been to date. And just this week the Committee on Climate Change argued for nuclear over offshore wind as the more cost-effective way to decarbonise the economy.
May
2011
Barry J
It appears everyone forgets the workers who have already been made redundant in Sheerness and those who are now going to be made redundant, plus the knock-on effect on those who supply the port. This is not good news for the locals at all. All a bit strange considering this same company closed its factory in the Isle of Wight, making 400 people redundant, in 2009 ? Very odd indeed!