Countries Going to Offshore Wind

From Britain:

Hooray !!! General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs. What? In England?
March 26, 2010 — morgan
We sure hope none of the tax credits and subsidies that support GE directly or indirectly enables this little adventure. Naah! That could never happen … could it? I know Jeff Immelt is good buddies with the President, but hey!

See, I thought when they said the wind industry would create jobs, they meant here … in the US … with US workers … using US materials. Geesh!

From the UK Times Online edition: General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs

March 26, 2010

Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor

The Government plans to generate one third of Britain’s electricity from giant offshore wind parks by 2020

Up to 1,900 jobs could be created in the UK after General Electric revealed plans to build a factory to make offshore wind turbines.

It will invest €110 million (£99 million) over the next decade on the plant, which will employ about 500 people producing turbine blades, towers and other parts. Magued Eldaief, the managing director of GE Energy UK, said that an additional 450 jobs would be created at other sites in Britain, while the investment would support a further 950 positions at other UK companies involved in the supply of components.

The Government plans an estimated 8,000 wind turbines for giant offshore wind parks in the North Sea and the Irish Sea to help meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

Mr Eldaief said that a “handful” of manufacturing sites were being considered.

He said that the company’s investment was linked to measures announced in the Budget to provide £60 million of funding that would help develop British ports to support the offshore wind industry.

The plant will build 4 megawatt wind turbines — each of which are up to 140m (460ft) high and have a turbine blade diameter equivalent to two football pitches. Mr Eldaief said: “The Budget announcement on ports was a key part of the decision. We have to make sure these ports have the capacity to handle these turbines.”

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said that the announcement shows a “vote of confidence in UK low carbon manufacturing”.

Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company that supplies 20 per cent of the world’s wind turbine market, last year cut 425 jobs at its manufacturing and research plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight and at a factory in Southampton.

Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said that General Electric’s announcement was “proof that offshore wind presents a huge economic opportunity for the UK”.

Recession brings cleaner air

? Emissions of carbon dioxide in Britain fell by nearly a tenth last year — from 532.8 million tonnes in 2008 to 480.9 million — as demand for energy dropped on the back of a shrinking economy and as factories cut production or closed
? Industrial demand for electricity fell by 11 per cent, while demand for coal fell by 16 per cent

? Emissions from transport were also significantly lower as freight and cargo volumes fell
? The amount of electricity generated from renewables increased to 24.4 terrawatt hours after the completion of a string of wind parks. This still accounted for only a small fraction of the 344.6 terrawatt hour total of electricity produced from all sources, including coal, gas and nuclear energy