Ed Miliband said “the possibilities are limitless for Hull” during a visit to the Siemens Gamesa site in the city.
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero visited the Alexandra Dock factory to launch the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan which sets out the government’s pathway to a greener and more secure energy sector.
The Hull site manufactures blades for some of the largest wind turbines in the world and Siemens Gamesa recently secured a £1 billion deal to build the blades for 64 turbines for ScottishPower’s East Anglia TWO wind farm at the factory.
As well as producing blades for domestic wind farms, the Siemens Gamesa site in Hull also manufactures blades that are shipped off to other countries including Taiwan, Germany, and Belgium.
During his visit to the wind turbine production site, Mr Miliband told Hull Live: “I’m just overwhelmed by what I’ve seen here. When people say ‘we’re going to create lots of green jobs’ nobody knows what that means, if they want to know what it means they should come to Hull.”
He added: “I talk to a lot of ministers from around the world and they all think ‘we’ve got to do off-shore wind’, so the possibilities are limitless for Hull. You are genuinely building the future here. I’m incredibly proud to be here.”
Mr Miliband also said the work being done at the city’s Siemens site is a “magical thing” due it helping both the UK’s energy security and the environment. He added: “We’re doing the right thing for the planet, which is for future generations, and we’re doing the right thing for today’s generation.”
During his visit, the minister said he believes it is an “incredibly exciting” time for Hull and East Yorkshire with the region soon to have a new combined authority, with its first elected mayor due to be voted in next May.
by Andrew Spence, LDRS
