Clipper breaks ground at offshore blade factory

February 18, 2010

Wind turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower is breaking ground at its new offshore wind turbine blade factory in the United Kingdom today.

The California-based company is expecting to complete the 4,000 square-metre facility in Tyneside, north-east England, in the third quarter of 2010.

The site on the Neptune Estate is owned by the City of Newcastle, and is being developed on Clipper’s behalf by local firm Shepherd Offshore Services.

Clipper, which produces its 2.5MW Liberty wind turbine at its factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is to build a much larger 10MW turbine at its facilities in the UK, designed for the UK offshore wind market.

It has its offshore wind turbine development centre in Blyth, not far from the new blade factory site.

The company is expecting to deploy its prototype “Britannia” turbine in late 2012, which it is building for the UK seabed development rights holder, the publicly-owned Crown Estate.

The machine will boast blades that will be 72 metres long, weighing more than 30 tonnes each.

James G.P. Dehlsen, Chairman of Clipper, said: “The offshore wind market in the UK is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting sectors in the global renewable energy industry.”

The UK’s Crown Estate is leasing sites for new offshore wind projects that could total 25 gigawatts of new capacity by 2030.