WORK on a 100m-long factory to house huge offshore wind-turbines began in Hampshire this week.

As reported by the Daily Echo, Danish firm MHI Vestas Offshore Wind is to build a new premises, on land at the decommissioned Fawley Power Station site, to paint and store the 80m (260ft) long turbine blades, which it manufactures at Newport on the Isle of Wight.

The huge blades will be transported to Fawley by MHI’s special vessel Blade Runner.

Formerly the blades were shipped to Denmark for the finishing work.

The new factory is expected to create 50 jobs and will be up and running by April 2018, say MHI.

MHI Vestas CEO, Jens Tommerup visited the Fawley site yesterday to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony.

Mr Tommerup told the Echo that Fawley was a key part of their £200m investment in the UK wind energy sector.

“We started building turbines four years ago on the Isle of Wight where there was a skills base because of the fibreglass boat industry but the site is a little bit small and we need more space for storing the 80m blades,” he said.

“This is a large site with room to expand and we have had a lot of co-operation from the people here.”

Mr Tommerup is confident that UK market for offshore wind generation will continue to grow and that the Fawley operation could expand and take on more staff.

He said his company had no plans to move its manufacturing base from the Isle of Wight to the mainland.

The UK is one of the best locations for wind power in the world and, in 2016, we generated more electricity from wind power than from coal and in the third quarter the year 11.5 per cent of the nation’s energy was wind generated.

Last month the government announced that up to £557m of funding would be made available in the next subsidy auction – called “contracts for difference” – planned for spring 2019. It will be open to bids from developers of offshore wind projects as well as certain “advanced conversion” technologies that deliver energy from wast but not onshore wind and solar projects.

Hugh McNeal chief executive of Renewable UK, the trade and professional body for the wind, wave and tidal energy industries, welcomed MHI’s move to Fawley.

“Building a new state-of-the art offshore wind facility on the site of a former oil-fired power station is a powerful symbol of the UK’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” he said.

“This is the latest example of innovative companies like MHI Vestas Offshore Wind ensuring that Britain reaps the economic benefits of offshore wind, maintaining the UK’s global lead in this technology.

“New facilities like this are rejuvenating communities across the country, creating skilled jobs and attracting much-needed investment as the UK looks to find new global markets.”