Good news for umbrella company contractors working in the renewable sector comes from Vestas, the wind turbine manufacturer, which intends to build giant turbines in Kent.
Vestas recently signed an option agreement for 70 hectares of land at the Port of Sheerness where it will build its V164-7.0 MW offshore wind turbine. The company says it will turn the option into a full lease and build the production facility if the order pipeline for the V164-7.0 MW materialises as expected.
The president of Vestas Offshore, Anders Søe-Jensen, said the company has proved its intentions to make large investments but will not jump head first into this size of investment until it is sure it makes sound business sense.
He went on to explain that customers need to see a stable market before they will commit to placing an order. Policy makers need to make that happen and Vestas looks forward to seeing the government in the UK provide the best terms possible to enable the offshore wind industry to take off and create hundreds of new jobs.
Meanwhile, north of the border, the SNP has pledged to reindustrialise Scotland by securing more employment in the renewable sector.
In its election manifesto, the SNP said that 25,000 apprenticeship places would be made available for each of the next five years, green skills academies would be built and a North Sea supergrid would be constructed to enable energy to be exported to Europe.
The SNP has also promised that Scotland will generate all of its electricity from renewables by 2020 and has set itself a target of having 130,000 jobs in low-carbon industries.
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Image: windmills worth the wait by johnnyalive
