Commenting on an announcement by Gamesa today (Friday 23 March 2012) that it plans to build a major manufacturing facility in Leith, Scotland to make giant offshore wind turbines set for the British coastline, Friends of the Earth’s Energy Campaigner Paul Steedman said:

“This is exactly the kind of low-carbon development the UK’s economy needs – plants like this will create hundreds of jobs and help revive British manufacturing, but businesses will only invest if market conditions are right.

“By giving huge hand-outs to oil and gas in the Budget, George Osborne snubbed David Cameron’s promise to develop a clean economy and left renewable energy investors uncertain about the future.

“If we are going to kick-start a clean energy revolution and make fuel bills affordable, Ministers must reform the electricity market to support clean British energy – not expensive imported gas, or risky nuclear power.”

ENDS

1.       Gamesa’s £125 million investment in a manufacturing plant in Leith will eventually create about 800 new jobs – supporting a total of 1,000.   

2.       Tens of thousands of people have joined Friends of the Earth's Final Demand Campaign, launched in October last year, which calls for energy we can all afford and a public inquiry into the power and influence of the Big Six energy companies.