The government has revealed that it stumped up £20 million to rescue a factory making wind turbine blades on the Isle of Wight, saving the jobs of half of its 600 employees.
The Vestas blade factory in Newport had been operating since 2002 but in late 2024 was facing possible closure because demand was drying up for the old specification of offshore wind turbine blades it was making.
The Danish company said at the time that logistical constraints at the site meant that it was unable to produce the next generation of offshore blades, which were larger.
Ministers stepped in with an “an agreement in principle” to offer financial support for Vestas to convert the factory to build smaller onshore wind turbine blades, mainly to support the UK market.
The government has now disclosed that this has taken the form of a £20 million grant. “Today’s grant funding delivers on that agreement, with millions flowing into the Isle of Wight to secure the future of the factory, protect jobs and position the island as a pioneer in the clean energy technologies of the future,” it said.
Despite the intervention about 300 jobs have been lost at the site. Vestas employs more than 30,000 people globally.
Katie White, the climate minister, said: “It was a no-brainer to save the Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight and create the country’s only dedicated onshore wind blade facility. Onshore wind is one of our cheapest and fastest technologies to build, it supports thousands of skilled jobs, and it delivers clean energy directly to the communities that host it.”
The government is trying to revive onshore wind deployment after a decade-long hiatus under a de facto ban imposed by the Conservative government. Subsidy contracts to support the construction of new onshore wind farms are expected to be announced shortly.
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“Securing the long-term viability of the site is a major boost for the government’s clean power by 2030 mission, with the Isle of Wight now also firmly anchored into Britain’s modern industrial strategy,” the government said. “This will rebuild domestic manufacturing, strengthen energy security and support growth in onshore wind, which is needed to end the UK’s dependency on volatile fossil fuel markets and bring down bills for good.”
Most turbines deployed in the UK to date are from the European manufacturers Siemens Gamesa and Vestas, and America’s General Electric which spun off its wind turbine manufacturing operations into GE Vernova.
The Vestas factory in Newport
CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
The UK has historically struggled to secure much of the manufacturing base for the turbines deployed in the country, with most of the parts made on the continent or in Asia. The government has sought to encourage more investment in the domestic supply chain by offering wind farm developers enhanced subsidies if they commit to buying locally.
The government is wrestling with whether to approve plans by a Chinese wind turbine maker, Mingyang, to build a £1.5 billion factory in Scotland making offshore wind turbine blades and nacelles — the parts that contain the generating equipment.
Approval had been mooted as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to China this week but The Times disclosed the decision had been delayed amid warnings it could present a security threat and make the country dangerously reliant on Beijing for renewable energy.