Study into £500m wind turbine plant gets green light

A study into whether to build a wind turbine manufacturing plant on the Dorset coast has been approved.

The plant at Balaclava Bay, next to Portland Port in Dorset, could be used to make and supply offshore wind turbines and blades and could create more than 1,000 jobs.

The Crown Estate which owns the seashore needed for the plant has agreed to fund the £1.5m study and developer Morwind says, if it goes ahead, it will be the largest offshore wind port on the south coast.

The area required for a manufacturing plant and new sea-facing port and dock would be about 50 acres (120 hectares) and would cost between £500m and £600m to build.

The site is close to the location of a planned waste incinerator on land at Portland Port, that despite permission initially being rejected by Dorset Council was given approval by the government in September 2024.

And in February Portland Port and Norwegian renewable energy firm Source Galileo agreed to work together on plans to build a wind farm off the Devon and Dorset coast that would be able to produce enough electricity for more than 3m homes.

The developer says all wind turbine blades manufactured at a new manufacturing plant would be transported away by sea, but there would be an increase in road and freight traffic into the port during construction.

Morwind added that the plant, specifically designed to service the offshore wind energy sector, can offer "700-1,000 metres of deep-water" and "50-60 hectares of high load-bearing quayside for manufacturing, marshalling, integration, and storage".

Director Peter Crones said disruption would be kept to a minimum: "We're anticipating that almost everything will arrive and depart from the Quayside.

"I'm not saying that there won't be any more vehicle movements than are currently experienced. There will be. That's undoubtedly going to be true.

"But the overwhelming majority of the materials will both arrive and leave from the quayside."

A spokesperson for Portland Port said it welcomed the study, adding: "It remains early days but this is an encouraging step forward and we look forward to working with Morwind and other partners to give this project every chance of success."

The study has been welcomed by Dorset Council and the local MP.

Nick Ireland, leader of Dorset Council says it's a major step towards Dorset becoming a big player in the green energy sector: "Funding for the Channel Gateway Project is a major opportunity for the UK and will bring investment and energy to Dorset.

"We're working with our unitary neighbours at Somerset, Wiltshire and BCP councils through the Wessex Partnership to boost regional growth and with The Crown Estate we plan to support offshore wind supply chains, creating jobs, social value and economic growth for local communities."

Labour MP for South Dorset, Lloyd Hatton said it was all about bring back local jobs to Portland that were lost when the Royal Navy pulled out 30 years ago: "In the 1990s the Royal Navy decided to pull out of Portland and the port therefore lost a huge number of jobs, and a lot of skills went with it as well. That was a devastating moment for both Weymouth and for Portland.

"This project is actually about trying to reverse the damage of those cuts all those years ago.

"What we could see, is hundreds of decent, well-paid jobs coming to Weymouth and Portland that local people can train and step into in the future."

Developers say it is not an application for a wind farm off Dorset, but merely a feasibility study into whether or not a factory and production site for turbine blades and parts could be delivered at Portland.

If approved it would take about five years for the construction phase and is unlikely to be operational before the end of the decade.

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