Spanish turbine manufacturer Gamesa has said plans to open a factory in Dundee remain on track despite scrapping an agreement to develop wind farms with Scottish Power’s parent company.
Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa and Iberdrola, which owns Scottish Power, informed Spain’s National Securities Markets Commission last week that they are to “unwind” their strategic alliance to develop wind farms because the global economic downturn has led to deteriorating market conditions.
The agreement, originally signed in 2008 and modified in 2009, envisaged the joint development of wind farm projects across Europe.
Gamesa, one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, announced last year it had signed a memorandum of understanding to explore creating a maintenance and manufacturing base in Dundee.
The firm intends to invest £127 million to establish an offshore wind turbine business in the UK.
As well as its proposed operation in Dundee, the company wants to create headquarters in London and a research centre in Glasgow.
The Basque firm also wants to build a turbine factory in England and has short-listed three possible locations the Humber, Harwich in Essex and Tyneside.
Their proposal is dependent on the firm reaching an agreement with a company that wants to develop wind farms in the North Sea off the coast of Tayside.
Should it go ahead, Gamesa would create around 200 jobs in Dundee and it is hoped the company would act as a beacon, attracting other offshore wind companies to the city or Tayside area.
The Scottish Government wants all of Scotland’s electricity to be obtained from renewable sources by 2020 and First Minister Alex Salmond has said the increased demand for offshore wind could transform Dundee in the same way Aberdeen benefited from the oil boom in the 1970s.
A spokeswoman for Gamesa said the decision to tear up the formal agreement with Iberdrola will not have any affect on the company’s plans for Dundee.No progressShe said, “Gamesa and Iberdrola ended a strategic agreement in wind farm development in Europe. This agreement was signed in 2008 and 2009 and both companies had made no progress in any aspect of the agreement so far.
“This will not affect any other plan of Gamesa in wind turbine activity and of course in Gamesa’s offshore plans.”
She added that Iberdrola, which already owns part of Gamesa, and the wind turbine manufacturer intend to continue working together despite the lack of a formal agreement.
“Both companies plan to continue working together in the future to strengthen their position in the wind energy industry,” she said.
Last week, Gamesa recorded a massive increase in profits for the first half of 2011.
The company reported a 26% year-on-year rise in revenue to 1297 million while net profit increased by 29% to 29 million.
Gamesa said demand for wind turbines in international markets had led to the rise as no turbines were sold within its home country.
Yesterday it was announced Iberdrola has entered into a new partnership with French company Technip to explore the development of two wind farms.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was announced at Technip’s offshore wind base in Aberdeen by the First Minister.
Mr Salmond said, “Technip’s decision to headquarter its European offshore wind business in Aberdeen signals the leading role that Scotland is playing in the development and deployment of leading-edge clean energy generation.
“The MoU with Iberdrola with its global offshore wind base in Glasgow for developments off the French coast, underlines that the expertise being developed in Scotland can help harness not only the huge natural resources off our own coast, but the massive clean, energy resources around the world.”
Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power Renewables and head of Iberdrola’s Global Offshore Division, said, “Technip’s offshore wind offices in Aberdeen are a welcome addition to Scotland’s growing renewable energy sector.
“We established our global HQ for offshore wind in Glasgow over a year ago, and since then a number of world leading companies have set up offices in Scotland.”