A happy green New Year beckons Tees Valley

The New Year arrives on Teesside with the region really beginning to deliver on the long-predicted promise of thousands of good green jobs coming to the North East.

A great example of that is the SeAH Wind project at Teesside Freeport where 80 percent of those now employed in building the huge wind turbine monopile factory are from the region.

Four in five workers on the SeAH Wind site come from within 30 miles of the sprawling complex, with almost 200 people now hard at work on its development.

Typical of those is Stephen Bell, from the contractor Wilson James, who lives in Park End, Middlesbrough but has frequently had to work away from home.

He said: “It’s great to be back close to home and working again.

“This site, and the opportunities it will bring when operational, will be game-changing for our local area. “These are proper real jobs back in our region, ones set to stay for years to come that can provide careers for us and our kids.”

The £450m monopile manufacturing facility will create 750 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs through supply chains, once completed.

Facilities on the site are now taking shape after construction work on the 90-acre site began in the summer.

When fully operational, SeAH will produce between 100 and 150 monopiles per year which will be transported directly from the factory to Teesworks’ new South Bank Quay facility before heading to the North Sea for installation.

Construction of two new concrete batching plants to supply the materials for the facility has been completed, with the sheer size of the scheme meaning it is more economical for the concrete to be produced on-site.

The first concrete plant has already started production with the second due to become operational this month.

Development of the plants cost £3m, with each set to produce 120 cubic metres of concrete every hour – for comparison, a normal concrete mixer truck holds six to eight cubic metres.

This machinery will operate 10 hours per day – but can be ramped up to 24 hours if needed.

Hanson has designed and built the structures, and Rainton Construction will take the concrete for use on the huge piles to be drilled – with waterproof concrete being developed for use on the pile caps and slabs.

A huge piling operation is now underway.

More than 6,100 piles need to be drilled and each pile can be up to 1m in diameter. Some piles go as deep as 35m.

The scheme is being developed and fully managed by K2 Construction Management on behalf of SeAH.

K2 senior project manager Glenn Forbes said: “Through active engagement with our project partners and by harnessing the power of our teams we’re proud to be creating a model working environment, delivering genuine value and benefits to our clients and partners.

“It’s incredibly exciting to be developing this world-class facility on behalf of SeAH. More than 1,500 local people will soon be employed across this site in turn making a huge economic impact in our local area.”