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Dong Energy has pulled out of a planned £450 million hub port for the offshore wind sector at Immingham in the Humber estuary.
The decision was made in response to a government review which found there was “little evidence” to suggest the development of such a hub port would cut offshore wind costs.
“The Strategic Review of East Coast Staging and Construction Facilities included a thorough examination of potential hub sites including the proposed Able Marine Energy Park (AMEP) in the Humber,” said a spokesman for Dong.
“It has concluded that current ports can support demand from the anticipated offshore wind project pipeline and it would be difficult to justify the scale of investment required to promote a single large-scale staging and manufacturing facility.”
The firm signed a memorandum of understanding with developer Able UK in July 2015 to explore using the park as an operational hub for the installation of its wind turbines off the east coast of the UK.
“Following a detailed review, we have concluded that the timescales for development of such a hub would preclude it providing support for any of our planned projects. We will now fully support and engage with the industry approach,” the spokesman added.
At the time the memorandum was signed, head of strategic supply chain for Dong Joachim Steenstrup said: “Able Marine Park is very close to what you would come up with, if you had to do a painting of the optimal cluster for the renewables industry on a blank canvas…close to the sea with abundant quayside and adjoining land to manufacturer, assemble, and store goods.”
A spokesman for Able UK said: “We obviously need to study the contents of the East Coast Review findings in detail and any potential implications for our sites both on the Tees and the Humber.”
He continued: “There is a great opportunity for the UK to become a world leader in offshore wind providing that we create the infrastructure which can make operations cost-effective and create a viable supply chain.
“Together with all interests in the region, we believe that the Humber can become a world-class ‘energy estuary’ and that AMEP will play a crucial role in making that happen.”
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