Clipper Windpower Marine Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of? Clipper Windpower, Inc. (Clipper) has announced the groundbreaking of its offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Neptune Estate, Tyne, UK.
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The new factory, a 4000 m2 facility, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010.? The site is owned by the City of Newcastle and is being developed by Shepherd Offshore Services.? Assuming expansion of the offshore market is in line with the Government goals and Clipper turbines represent approximately one gigawatt per year of development, the factory is expected to employ a local workforce in excess of 500. The factory will be used to develop and build blades for the ‘Britannia Project’, a 10 MW offshore wind turbine prototype under development by Clipper.? The prototype is scheduled for deployment in late 2012.