Berwick Bank B wind farm picks Siemens Energy for turbines, with 2,677 UK jobs expected
SSE's choice of supplier would bring work to blade, engineering and assembly sites in Hull, Manchester and Newcastle, though the 1.4GW project still needs a final investment decision due late next year.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
SSE has chosen Siemens Energy as preferred supplier of wind turbines and offshore substation platforms for Berwick Bank B, a 1.4GW phase of what could become the world's largest offshore wind farm. The company said on Wednesday the choice would support 2,677 skilled jobs across the north of England and Scotland.
It is not yet a contract. That depends on SSE taking a final investment decision, expected late next year, and on a final award.
Most of the work would land in England. Siemens Energy would draw on 2,222 existing and project-based jobs there: turbine blade manufacturing in Hull, engineering and project delivery in Manchester, and project delivery and assembly in Newcastle.
In Scotland, 455 engineering, project delivery and servicing roles would be supported, of which 130 are newly created:
- 200 engineering and project delivery roles with SSE in Glasgow, 80 of them new
- 255 delivery and servicing roles with Siemens Energy, including 50 new roles at Montrose Port
Siemens Energy is also opening a Glasgow office expected to employ up to 150 people across its renewables, grid and service work in Scotland. SSE said the jobs it has announced for Berwick Bank B so far now total more than 3,000, almost 1,000 of them in Scotland.
Timetable
Berwick Bank B is planned for the outer Firth of Forth, about 38km off the Scottish coast. If SSE goes ahead, preparatory offshore construction could start in 2028, with installation of turbines and offshore substations starting in 2030 and finishing in 2032.
It forms part of the 4.3GW Berwick Bank development. At full capacity, SSE says, the scheme could meet more than 6% of current UK electricity demand and power almost seven million homes a year.
Vanguard financing
The government announced Berwick Bank B alongside RWE and KKR's £12 billion investment in the Vanguard East and Vanguard West wind farms off the Norfolk coast, as the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, prepared to attend the COP31 leaders' summit in Türkiye. It said the Vanguard deal is believed to be the biggest of its kind in UK history. The two farms are due to be running by 2030 and could supply the equivalent of about three million homes, with offshore construction due to start in early 2027. The National Wealth Fund is putting £1 billion into that financing, its largest offshore wind investment so far.
