A South Korean wind tower manufacturer could join Siemens in the Green Port Hull revolution, the Mail can exclusively reveal.
Senior executives from Seoul-based CS Wind Corporation have made a number of private visits to the city in recent months.
They are understood to have held “positive” top-level talks with Hull City Council and Associated British Ports in connection with the proposed £230 million redevelopment of Alexandra Dock as the site of a new offshore wind turbine assembly facility to be operated by Siemens.
CS Wind makes the giant towers that wind turbines to stand on.
It currently makes about 1,800 towers every year.
According to its website, the company has recently been appointed as a global supplier by Siemens.
Hull East MP Karl Turner said: “My understanding is there have been a number of very positive meetings here in Hull involving this particular company.
“Hopefully, if they decide to come here then I would like to think they could form part of the supply chain of companies we all want to see developing following on from the proposed investment by Siemens.
“I don’t know whether there is an intention to locate in the city or the wider region but it is a very exciting time for Hull.”
At the moment, CS Wind does not have a manufacturing site in Europe.
The Mail has been told CS Wind executives have visited the city several times over the past couple of months.
They have been given tours of the city’s docks as well as the council’s headquarters at the Guildhall.
So far, no official comment has been made by either the company or council officials.
However, it is thought a deal could be imminent following the granting of planning permission for the dockland Siemens factory last month.
CS Wind opened its first production plant in Vietnam in 2003, supplying wind towers for the renewable energy projects in New Zealand and the Philippines.
It subsequently opened a second factory in China and last year opened a third manufacturing facility in Ontario in Canada.
The Chinese factory has been supplying wind towers for both the American and European markets.
The first towers to be made at the new factory in Canada rolled off the production line in April destined for a 30-turbine wind farm in America.
About 300 people are expected to be employed there when it reaches full production capacity.
Each tower made at the plant is constructed in four sections and then assembled at their final destination.
Without any current European base, the chance to locate close to the Humber to take advantage of the new generation of offshore wind farms being developed in the North Sea is one which city officials are understood to have highlighted during their meetings with company executives.
The appeal of locating in one of the new Enterprise Zones will have also been flagged up.
The Zones – covering the Green Port Hull project in east Hull and the BAE Systems site at Brough – come with a range of incentives for new investment businesses looking to locate in the area.
They include a five-year break from paying business rates, worth up to £257,000, relaxed planning rules and grants for new plants and machinery.
Approval for the joint venture scheme between Siemens and ABP was granted last month by the city council’s planning committee.
It is hoped the new facility will open in 2014.
Speaking after the planning go-ahead, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, said: “The Humber can make a serious contribution to the UK’s renewable energy future.
“Its location and sheer proximity to some of the potential new wind projects in the North Sea puts the region in pole position to benefit from investment in renewables.
“The enthusiasm of the local community has been key to the success of this project so far and it is great to see further progress being made.”
The Hull-based Renewables Network is already urging local engineering firms to begin preparing for the completion of the factory and the demand for components and services that should result.
Sam Pick, the group’s business development director, said: “The approval of the plans for a Siemens wind turbine plant in Hull represents the single biggest milestone yet in the emergence of the Humber as a renewables hub.
“However, the hard work really begins now.
“The momentum that got the Humber this far, in its rebirth as a centre for green energy, cannot stop.
“The planning decision has to act as a wake-up call to businesses across the area that activity in this industry is well under way.”
