Leaders line up to push for wind farm jobs in Merseyside

WIRRAL Council’s Leader, Cllr Jeff Green threw his weight behind the city-region’s attempt to ensure it benefits from proposals to build a £15bn wind farm in the Irish Sea.

A report by consulting engineer Arup was published yesterday identifying opportunities for the next phase of development of a huge offshore wind farm 70km off the coast of Liverpool, containing around 850 wind turbines generating 4.2 gigawatts of electricity from 850 wind turbines

The report says that developing, building and maintaining the proposed Irish Sea installation in deepwater will be a huge undertaking and will need support from local logistics operators.

It said that key assets which could benefit from the construction of the farms include the Port of Liverpool, Cammell Laird, Stobart Park at Halton, Port Wirral, and the former Bridgewater Paper Mill site at Ellesmere Port.

Plans have already been drawn up for a major development of the Cammell Laird shipyard site in Birkenhead to create a vast service hub for the offshore wind industry.

Wirral Council leader Cllr Jeff Green said: “I and my officers have had a number of meetings with Cammell Laird regarding the potential for the creation of a significant number of jobs in the manufacturing of wind turbines and offshore sub-stations. I am very excited about this opportunity and confident in John Syvret and his team’s ability to secure and deliver future investment in this growth area for the borough.
 
“I have personally raised this matter with national politicians, pointing out the experience, skills and clear enthusiasm that Cammell Laird can bring to this opportunity. 

“The re-balancing of our economy is a vital challenge and opportunities such as this are hugely important as they have the potential to create a significant number of green jobs, not just in the manufacturing of equipment but also in its ongoing maintenance.

“The geographical location of the Port of Liverpool in relation to the Irish Sea Zone 3 proposals and the infrastructure and skills provided by the likes of Cammell Laird puts us in pole position to be at the forefront of this exciting development,” he said.

The Mersey Partnership’s director of Investment Mark Basnett said: ““Liverpool city-region has an immensely strong asset base on which to build an integrated supply chain for Irish Sea Offshore Wind development.  One of our biggest strengths is that the key sites identified  need limited adaptation to service offshore wind industry requirements. There are established businesses and companies that can provide a flexible, reliable and low carbon solution for the sector.’’