More than 300 skilled jobs have been saved on the Isle of Wight following a £20 million government grant to secure the future of the Vestas wind turbine blade factory in Newport.
The funding, confirmed today (Wednesday 28th January), will enable the factory to become the UK’s only dedicated onshore wind blade manufacturing site, ensuring the long-term viability of a major employer on the Isle of Wight.
Vestas, which has operated on the Island for over 20 years, faced an uncertain future in 2024 after demand ended for the offshore blades previously produced at the site. The Danish manufacturer also encountered logistical challenges that made it unfeasible to build the next generation of larger offshore blades on the Isle of Wight.
In response, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband intervened, brokering an agreement in principle to repurpose the facility for onshore blade production. This was enabled by the government’s decision to lift the effective ban on onshore wind development, reactivating a key part of the UK’s renewable energy sector.
Climate Minister Katie White has said:
“It was a no-brainer to save the Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight and create the country’s only dedicated onshore wind blade facility.
“Onshore wind is one of our cheapest and fastest technologies to build, it supports thousands of skilled jobs, and it delivers clean energy directly to the communities that host it.
“While our thoughts are with those who have lost their jobs, by safeguarding over 300 roles, we are protecting one of the Isle of Wight’s largest employers and giving Britain the ability to produce the homegrown, clean power we need to bring bills down for good.”
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Ken Kaser, Senior Vice President Blades Manufacturing at Vestas, has said:
“Vestas and the Isle of Wight have a long, proud history of manufacturing world class wind turbine blades.
“We are delighted to partner with government on actions and policy that supports skilled jobs, strengthens the UK’s supply chain, and positions the site at the heart of the country’s clean energy sector’s future.”
The government says today’s announcement positions the Isle of Wight at the centre of Britain’s modern industrial strategy, contributing to the target of clean power by 2030. The revitalised onshore wind sector is expected to support up to 45,000 skilled jobs nationwide by the end of the decade.
Wow this makes me angry…
Vestas is an ABSOLUTE SCAM. I have lost count of how many ‘grants’ they have had over the years… all the profit goes abroad.
Doesn’t, the majority of it goes back in as reinvestments in research and developments. It’s also 63% owned by Joe Public shares. The dividends are minimal in comparison to the investments, and the investor company shares (the other 37%) are broadly shared between UK, US and Norway so we can all benefit from emerging new technologies.
Also, a 20m grant might seems like a lot of money, but in a company expecting to invest over 1.2bn it’s a drop in the ocean. It’s so they can keep the highly technical and experienced staff in order to fulfil the upcoming orders which we and other countries will be needing in the future.
Announcement “More than 300 skilled jobs have been saved on the Isle of Wight”..
Brian Potter: “Wow this makes me angry…”
I’m sure those who’s jobs have been saved will be pleased to hear that….
This has been the biggest scam going all these bloody grants are what is making our bills so bloody high never are we going to have cheaper energy.The bullshit net zero no such thing,save the planet bollocks millipede labour all of it utter shit.
to misquote Abraham Lincoln…(or was it Mark Twain?)
“sometimes it is better to say nothing, and let people think that you’re as thick as sh1t, than to write a load of drivel and remove all doubt”
Not gonna say anything to save any of your stupidity being rubbed off on me, but the price of bills is charged via the one which is highest to produce, wholesale. This is gas which is the most expensive by far. Switching to a system where we paid for renewable energy at renewable energy rates would be heavens cheaper than today.
Happy for the 300 jobs no doubt.
It seems the government were held to ransom with this.
That’s a lot of money given to a business, will they pay it back out of the profits? or will tax payers have to just plug another budget hole?
Not directly, it’s a grant. But the investment in new tech means that alternative energies come on board and save the MASSIVE amounts of money (taxes) that would be needed to enlarge the National Grid and fund fossil fuels, or buy in from overseas. It also means cleaner energy.
Nobody seemed to mind getting grants from the Gov’t to put solar panels on their roofs, did they? Or for warm air heating systems? It’s speculate to accumulate in order to SAVE money.
The key difference is who carries the risk and who gets the benefit. Grants for domestic solar or heating upgrades directly reduce household energy bills and grid demand almost immediately, with clear, measurable payback. Large-scale technology or energy grants, by contrast, rely on long-term assumptions about cost savings, adoption rates, and future infrastructure decisions that may or may not materialise.
Saying it “saves massive amounts of money” assumes that:
Historically, many technologies required both grants and later grid investment anyway, meaning taxpayers paid twice.
There’s also an opportunity-cost issue. Public money used for speculative projects can’t be used elsewhere — such as targeted efficiency upgrades, proven renewables, or grid resilience — which may deliver faster, more reliable returns.
Cleaner energy is a valid goal, but clean does not automatically mean cost-effective. Each grant should be justified on demonstrable outcomes, not comparisons to unrelated household incentives or good intentions.
In short: speculate to accumulate only works when the risks, timelines, and savings are clear — and with large public grants, they often aren’t.
More utter bullshit the great net zero scam.Dreadful conditions down there hire fire all the time 100s of tonnes of waste from this bullshit all a con from millipede our bill will NEVER be reduced because of this crap.
What kind of idiot would work there?
perhaps someone who prefers to earn a living for his family rather than expecting the tax payer(s) to fund his life on benefits…
Wind Turbines are a blot on the Landscape.
that’s subjective
personally I like the look of them,….
Funny how my comment has disappeared.
Daily Telegraph headline stated 300 jobs were lost.