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Siemens Gamesa will expand its offshore blade factory in Hull, England by 41,600 square metres, more than doubling the size of the manufacturing facilities.

The expansion represents an investment of GBP 186 million and is planned to be completed in 2023.

A portion of the investment will be funded through the UK government’s GBP 160 million Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support scheme.

The factory will grow to 77,600 square metres and add 200 additional direct jobs to the approximately 1,000 person-workforce already in place, Siemens Gamesa said.

The expansion will allow for the manufacturing of next-generation offshore wind turbine blades at the facility.

”The rapid development of the offshore wind industry – and continued, strong, long-term support provided by the UK government for offshore wind – has enabled us to power ahead with confidence when making these plans. We’re committed to unlocking the potential of wind energy around the globe, with solutions from Hull playing a vital role,” Marc Becker, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit, said.

”Through safe, efficient, and reliable manufacturing, over 1,500 blades from Hull have been delivered to customers worldwide. We’re very much looking forward to adding to this capacity in the future.”

Manufacturing of other offshore wind turbine blade types already in the Siemens Gamesa Hull factory pipeline will continue while the expansion is constructed. In total, Siemens Gamesa has an offshore wind power order backlog of EUR 9.4 billion.

Clark MacFarlane, Managing Director of Siemens Gamesa UK said: “The UK Government has provided strong and consistent support for offshore wind, having committed to a further 30 GW installed this decade, three times the current installed capacity. This underlines the commitment the UK Government has made since the Offshore Sector Deal was unveiled in early 2019.”