Humber wind turbine plant awarded £75m

Construction of a £500m wind turbine manufacturing facility is set to go ahead on the Humber’s south bank.

Development director Neil Etherington said the government cash was the “leg-up” the project needed after it was first proposed 12 years ago.

Up to 3000 jobs will be created at the Killingholme site in North Lincolnshire.

It is hoped the facility will become a base for the construction of turbines for huge North Sea wind farms – it will also house a new quay and deep water port facilities.

“It’s a sizeable amount of money we’ve been provided with by government [and] we’ve always made it clear we needed that leg up because it is a risky project,” he added.

There have been a number of objections to the project, which involves reclaiming hundreds of acres of land from the Humber estuary which is a habitat relied upon by a number of species.

But Mr Etherington said the company is “doing the right thing in terms of the planet and climate change.”

Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said:

“We are starting to see the PM’s ambitions for levelling up in the north, and we are clearly now in receipt of more cash which will drive that.

“We have the skills and experience and we are now positioned as central to the development of a world-leading industry – people across North Lincolnshire will directly benefit from this announcement for years to come.”