Britain took a step closer to becoming an offshore wind hotspot on Thursday with Japan's Mitsubishi agreeing to invest up to 100 million pounds ($153.4 million) in a UK turbine development facility.
Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe Ltd has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to develop new turbines for the next generation of offshore wind farms that Britain hopes can slash its carbon emissions.
The government plans to provide grants of up to 30-million pounds to get the first stage of the project -- which includes prototype assembly and testing -- going by 2014.
"Mitsubishi's investment in wind turbine research and development and the creation of 200 highly skilled jobs is great news for our future plans in low carbon, high technology industries," Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said.
"The UK is now well placed to manufacture the turbines needed for the next generation of offshore wind farms. We will continue to work with Mitsubishi to secure production in the UK."
The government also announced 18.5 million pounds of funding for a test site for the next generation of large multi-megawatt turbines near Blyth in north-east England, as part of Britain's bid to become a prime location for offshore wind technology after being left behind in the onshore wind market.
"The UK is starting to turn its leadership in offshore wind generation into leadership in manufacturing," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.
"It is another step to turning Britain into a leading green manufacturing centre."
Leading onshore wind turbine maker Gamesa of Spain said last week it planned to become a leading player in the offshore wind market through a joint venture with Germany's Bard.
Ignacio Galan, the chief executive of Iberdrola -- which through its Scottish Power subsidiary plans to build wind farms around Britain and owns almost 15 percent of Gamesa -- told reporters on Wednesday he would also like to see the companies build a new turbine factory in Britain because of the huge scale of Britain's offshore wind plans.
ONSHORE PLANS
Spanish industrial giant FCC plans to plant wind turbines on British rubbish dumps in a move to produce more green energy with less public protest.
Many proposed onshore wind farms have been blocked or delayed for years in Britain by strong opposition from local residents, forcing developers to build more expensive offshore projects, while Spain's onshore wind industry has flourished.
FCC plans to spend up to 114 million euros ($153.6 million) on installing up to a total of 80 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines at some of the 100 landfill sites it owns through its Waste Recycling Group subsidiary across Britain, the company website says.
FCC already has 533 MW of wind capacity installed across Spain, Austria and Britain.
Britain's Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT) also said on Thursday that German engineering firm Siemens along with other private investors including EDF Energy and public company the Carbon Trust had invested a combined 4.8 million pounds in the tidal energy company.
The funding will help MCT plans to deploy Britain's first commercial tidal energy farm in UK waters within the next two years, the company said.