HBPW Joins Hull’s Eco Revolution

HBPW is playing its part in the wind turbine revolution taking place in Hull as Siemens is poised to create hundreds of jobs at a new turbine manufacturing facility.

Together with development partner Associated British Ports, Siemens is investing £310 million in offshore wind turbine production at Hull’s Alexandra Dock, directly creating 1,000 new jobs and many more during the construction phase and in the supply chain.

ABP, in turn, has appointed the GRAHAM Lagan Construction Group Joint Venture to develop the Alexandra Dock site for the Siemens facilities, which will include the building of three new berths and a roll-on, roll-off ramp.

HBPW Managing Partner, Paul Withers, said: “The project includes the partial filling in of Alexandra Dock, constructing new lead-in jetties to the East and West sides of the facility and the construction of a new deep berth quay. Our job is to design some of the temporary works that will facilitate this.

“The green energy debate continues apace and, whatever your views about wind power, this project is clear evidence that the focus on developing cleaner alternatives to oil and coal remains high on the political and commercial agendas. We are proud to be part of such a major initiative.”

Hull City Council granted planning permission for the development so that work on the pre-assembly, project construction and logistics and distribution facilities could begin.

Siemens has appointed leading UK contractor VolkerFitzpatrick to build its 40,000sqm wind turbine blade manufacturing factory which is scheduled for completion this autumn to allow for the production of the first blades by the end of this year. Scunthorpe based Clugston’s has also been asked to build a 12,300 sqm service and logistics facility on the site.

The UK is one of the best locations for wind power in the world, and is considered to be the best in Europe. Towards the end of 2015 there were approximately 6,650 turbines with wind accounting for 9.3% of the UK’s electricity requirement.