Work starts on giant Teesworks wind farm factory

Steelwork erection has begun on a £450M SeAH Wind monopile manufacturing facility at South Bank, Teesworks.

The 800m-long building will be the world’s biggest monopile facility when complete and the first of its kind in the UK. Standing 40m-tall, it will annually produce up to 200 monopiles – which form the foundations of offshore wind turbines.

A landmark £100M-plus deal between SeAH, British Steel and Severfield has been signed, which will see material from British Steel’s Teesside Beam Mill at Lackenby, near Redcar, used in the giant development. Severfield will fabricate the steelwork ahead of it being installed on the 90-acre site.

British Steel will supply more than 30,000t of steel under the agreement. Recycled steel from former steelworks sites will also be used in the new construction to help create the new facilities from the ashes of the old.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Our steel built the world from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Canary Wharf. Now from our proud past we’re building a bright future in the industries of tomorrow – and we’re making use of what we do best.

“This once again shows how SeAH and the firms we’re bringing to the Teesworks site are fully behind having a local workforce at the heart of making Teesside the green energy capital of the UK.

South Korean manufacturer SeAH’s factory will comprise 105,000m² of high-quality factory space to produce monopiles up to 120m long, 15.5m in diameter and weighing 3,000 tonnes.