During a visit this morning to Harwich International Port, the largest container port in the UK, Paul Davey, Head of Corporate Affairs of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, the port’s owner, told Renewable Energy Magazine: “while we are not in a position to disclose specifics at present, we are involved in negotiations with a number of potential developers of Round 3” to site offshore operations at Harwich Port. Davey did not disclose whether this also involved locating turbine manufacturing facilities at the port, but he did not discount it.
Harwich International Port has benefited considerably since Hutchison Ports, part of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group (HPH), the world's largest independent port owner and operator, in 1998and is already heavily committed to the offshore renewables sector, having first acted as an installation base for the Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm. Harwich now hosts the Greater Gabbard project, which, when complete, will boast an array of 140 Siemens turbines producing up to 504 MW of energy, making it the largest offshore wind farm in the world.
In addition, the port has provided support facilities for the Thanet development and for other power-related projects. Building on this formidable experience, Harwich International Port has consent for a major new port development at Bathside Bay, immediately adjacent to the existing facility, which could offer further opportunities for the industry.
Harwich is ideally located to serve the UK’s Round 3 projects, of which over 20 GW are being developed within 200 miles of the port. Its position could also prove pivotal for future sites off the coasts of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
“Over the last few years we’ve been handling increasing volumes for the offshore wind industry and have handled more wind turbines than any other UK port,” commented Davey, who said that the local economy is already benefiting indirectly from the influx of offshore wind activity. “Prices for bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation in the area have risen due to the number of workers coming in to run wind operations out of Harwich,” he said, while colleague, Business Support Manger, Bill Stoker added that the landlords of local public houses were “very pleased with the amount of money coming in from offshore wind workers, around 50% of whom are British”.
Hutchinson Ports are confident that the facilities the port offers and its track record in offshore wind put it among contenders for attracting offshore wind manufacturing to Harwich and hope it will not be too long before they can announce the outcome of the current talks. “I envisage negotiations could be concluded in around nine months,” said Stoker. Both he and Davey would be very pleased if the result was also the location of new turbine manufacturing facilities in Harwich, which would create jobs and wealth for the local area.
The photo shows Siemens nacelles lined up on a Harwich quay ready for shipment to the Greater Gabbard wind farm being constructed by American firm, Fluor.
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