Windfarm offers hope for steel jobs

CORUS is well placed to secure a contract to help build one of the world's biggest offshore windfarms, a top Government minister has said.

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said the utility company behind the £1-billion Gwynt y Mor project in North Wales could look to Corus to provide the steel needed for underwater platforms supporting 250 massive turbines.

Mr Hain said he had hoped the steel could be produced at Corus's plant in Port Talbot, South Wales but it may not have the facility to provide the steel plate needed.

However, it is understood Scunthorpe's steelworks does and could be in the running to provide the tough material.

Mr Hain, who has met with RWE npower renewables, the utility firm behind the windfarm project, has said he believes Corus is well-placed thanks to the weak value of the pound.

"If we can source the steel underneath the water for these giant platforms, let alone the towers and turbines, from within Britain, then there's massive jobs and growth potential for Corus," he said.

RWE said development work for the windfarm, which is set to be the largest in Europe, was ongoing and no decision over the contract had yet been made.

Corus Scunthorpe spokeswoman Rachel Cox said she could not confirm the company's involvement in any bid for the contract.

When completed Gwynt y Mor is set to power the equivalent of 680,000 homes, and is expected to start feeding into the national grid from 2012.

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