‘For the first time in many decades we can look forward to a bright future’
THE move comes as optimism abounded at the recent Offshore Wind Connections event on the humber.
Stephen Parnaby OBE, deputy chair of hull and East Yorkshire LEP, said the green agenda could finally offset the huge losses the decimation of the fishing industry brought. “For the first time in many decades we really can look forward to a bright future,” he said in his virtual presentation. “The coming of offshore wind particularly, but energy in its whole context, gives the humber a real opportunity and I think we have got a headstart on most.
“With offshore wind, with decarbonisation, with the announcement of freeports, with the emerging new port of Able on the South Bank, I think all of these things make this area an absolutely tremendous place for the next number of years.
“There will be something like 40,000 jobs created in the next five years across the UK and the humber is going to be at the forefront of that. We have already got a few thousand jobs in offshore wind with Orsted and Siemens, but with the Siemens expansion and Able coming on board that is going to give us tremendous opportunities.
“We have new licensing agreements in the North Sea, the humber is ideally placed for that, and it is not just about manufacturing, it is about servicing those turbines when they are there, so absolutely wonderful opportunities in that industry.” he said the region had a strong track record in adapting, from fish to wider food and ship to caravan building.
“There are going to be massive opportunities for apprenticeships,” he said. “I relate this to the oil industry in Aberdeen. When you first went it was full of Americans. They have all gone now and jobs have been taken over by local people. There is nothing wrong with bringing expertise in to start with, what you do is make sure those jobs become available for local people, particularly young people.
“They have a fabulous opportunity in this area, because we have never really recovered from all sorts of hits, we have never had that genuine replacement. The whole energy spectrum, across the board, is a fabulous future for this area.
“It is a wonderful place to live, a wonderful place to bring up families, a wonderful place to be educated and actually in a very few short years it is going to be a wonderful place to earn a living.
“Let’s get in there on the ground floor, seize those opportunities, make a real difference and put the humber on the world map.” Greater Lincolnshire LEP chair Pat Doody also addressed the conference, organised by Team humber Marine Alliance. he said: “Our geography and nationally-significant energy assets in the humber Estuary and North Sea mean we are uniquely placed to pioneer new approaches that contribute meaningfully to the government’s commitment to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Able Marine Energy Park represents a singular opportunity for the UK to establish a world-scale offshore wind cluster and enable the UK to maximise the potential of growth. “AMEP is grounded in the needs of the rapidly growing renewables sector with achievable aspirations to attract manufacturers serving the industry to our local economy, to make a facility of international repute.
“There can be fewer more strategic fits to the market, than a substantial quay built to accommodate deployment of large industrial components to the North Sea and beyond from the heart of the largest offshore wind market in the world. A project singled out for investments in recent government announcements.”