Last updated at 13:02, Tuesday, 19 February 2013

A £4m investment in the offshore wind industry is set to create 30 long-term jobs in Barrow.

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The development, which will serve as a monitoring and maintenance hub for the West of Duddon Sands offshore windfarm, is due to be completed by November.

Danish energy giant Dong Energy is working alongside ScottishPower Renewables and the firms have launched a recruitment campaign.

The West of Duddon Sands offshore windfarm is expected to provide enough power to meet the annual electricity consumption of around 300,000 households.

A total of 108 Siemens 3.6MW turbines, with a total capacity of 389MW, will make this one of the largest offshore windfarms in the world when construction begins in 2014.

Benj Sykes, UK country manager for Dong Energy’s wind business, said: “We are already a big employer in Barrow, having created more than 75 full time jobs here over the last six years.

“Building our third O&M base in the town, after those for Barrow and Walney Offshore Wind Farms, is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to the area, and ourcommitment to Barrow’s Energy Hub.

“We are constructing the West of Duddon Sands offshore windfarm with our partners ScottishPower Renewables over the next two years, and when complete, this base will provide 24-hour, 365 days-a-year monitoring, with easy access to the windfarm from the moorings next to the O&M building.”

Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables project director, said: “Barrow is a major hub for renewable energy developments in the north west, and we are delighted to be basing our operations and maintenance facilities here for the West of Duddon Sands project.

“These are highly skilled jobs that will help to support the local economy.

“The region has a strong engineering talent pool that we hope to be able to tap in to.”

The positions include head of operations, assistant operations manager, site assistant, wind turbine technician and high voltage engineers.

First published at 13:31, Sunday, 03 February 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk