Two new offshore wind ports in North East

The government is investing £95 million in two new offshore wind ports in the Humber region and Teesside.

Able Marine Energy Park, on the South Bank of the River Humber, will receive up to £75 million government investment, and Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre, on the River Tees, will benefit from up to £20 million. Construction will begin later this year to upgrade the two ports with new infrastructure - helping to revitalise these historic industrial heartlands.

Together, the ports will have the capacity to house up to seven manufacturers to support the development of the next-generation offshore wind projects, substantially boosting the UK’s offshore wind manufacturing base while directly creating around 3,000 new jobs each.

Once complete, the two ports will have the capacity to support the development of up to 9GW of energy offshore wind projects each year – enough electricity to power around eight million homes.

The announcements form progress towards the Prime Minister’s target to quadruple the UK’s offshore wind capacity to produce 40GW of energy from offshore wind by 2030 – enough to power every home in the country.

Boris Johnson said: “During the Industrial Revolution over 200 years ago, wind powered the sails of ships from the Humber and Teesside trading goods around the world. Now the Humber and Teesside will put the wind in the sails of our new green industrial revolution, building the next generation of offshore wind turbines whilst creating 6,000 new green jobs in the process.

“Our multi-million-pound investment in these historic coastal communities is a major step towards producing the clean, cheap energy we need to power our homes and economy without damaging the environment.”

The government funding will be provided through the £160 million investment to upgrade port infrastructure and support manufacturing announced by the Prime Minister in October 2020.