UK: Wind Towers Scotland and EDF Energy Renewables sign long-term deal

The Beck Burn project will see nine turbines at the site which can produce up to 31MW of power, enough to supply around 17,000 homes.The five year agreement has already seen the Campbeltown firm win an order to supply towers for EDF ER’s Beck Burn wind farm near Carlisle.

Today saw the signing of the agreement in Edinburgh in the presence of Energy Minister Fergus Ewing.

The Minister said, “The skills and experiences within the Scottish supply chain is something that I have been a champion of for a number of years, so the signing of this five-year agreement is excellent news and shows a real commitment by EDF ER.”

“From this initial order, I’m confident that EDF ER’s partnership with Wind Towers Scotland will flourish in the coming years and benefit all concerned.”

Matthieu Hue, CEO, EDF Energy Renewables said; “We have a large wind portfolio in Scotland including a large pipeline of projects in development. Our strategy has always been to focus on supporting local economic growth and to use local companies where practical to support the construction and operation of our UK based wind farms.

“As Wind Towers is at the forefront of wind tower manufacturing in the UK and has a modern factory in Campbeltown, I am delighted that EDF ER and Wind Towers are establishing such a strong partnership”.

EDF Energy Renewables is a joint venture between EDF Energy and EDF Energies Nouvelles. EDF Energy is a leading investor in low carbon electricity in Scotland. The company generates around a third of the country’s electricity and has more than 1,400 employees in Scotland. EDF Energies Nouvelles is market leader in green electricity production with a presence in 20 countries.

Following the signing of the agreement Wind Towers is planning to broaden its product, service and customer base to support and expand its existing manufacturing activities and grow its business in the Scottish and UK renewables market.

Alasdair Gammack, Business Development Manager for Wind Towers Scotland said, “This is an important deal for us. EDF ER’s commitment is very welcome as we strengthen our position as the UK’s only large scale wind tower manufacturer for onshore and now offshore.

“With a workforce of over 150 people and growing and an annual wage bill in excess of £5 million, it is hard to exaggerate the importance of the wind towers factory to the Kintyre economy. We applaud EDF ER’s pledge to support local economic growth; this deal is a very real demonstration of that undertaking.

“We have worked closely with EDF ER to build this relationship and we look forward to a long and fruitful association. It is testament to our highly skilled workforce that we continue to produce towers of the highest quality. We believe this can be the first of many orders fulfilled for EDF ER for projects all across the United Kingdom and Ireland and we look forward to delivering our towers to the Beck Burn Project in the coming months.”