Anglesey Aluminium turbine factory could create hundreds of jobs

HUNDREDS of jobs could be created if the Anglesey Aluminium site is turned into a wind turbine factory.

Manufacturers want to transform the former Anglesey Aluminium site into a wind turbine factory and are in detailed talks with Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales, about the project.

Mr Hain said he believed it "could be the beginning of good times" for the area as he set out his vision for the island to become a centre of excellence for green technology.

Combined with a successful bid to build Wylfa B, billions of pounds would be attracted to the island, rejuvenating its fortunes following Rio Tinto’s decision to pull out of the smelting plant, he added.

"The company wants to build a factory on the Anglesey Aluminium site and it is the ideal place for it," said Mr Hain. told the Daily Post ahead of a visit to North Wales today. "There is a very good prospect of hundreds of jobs being created.

"Anglesey Aluminium’s closure has been a body blow to the local economy but we have been working to get new high quality jobs to the area.

"They are eligible for some government assistance and convergence funding. It is a very serious and viable project and I think it could be the beginning of good times, especially with the likelihood of a Wylfa B."

Mr Hain visited the region last week before flying out to Germany on a two-day fact-finding mission.

That involves heading to the town of Bremerhaven, which is now a renowned offshore wind power hub, creating 700 jobs in three years.

Around 185 companies are based there, including factories for assembling wind turbines, rotor blades and heavy-cast components as well as suppliers and research and development companies.

It follows discussions over the last three months with a wind turbine company that cannot currently be named as talks are commercially sensitive.

The deep port at the Anglesey Aluminium site means it is the ideal location for such a plant as it would allow easy transportation of the turbines, with some potentially heading for new off-shore wind farms that could be built nine miles from the island’s coast.

Mr Hain is keen to build on the proposals as the anchor for a blueprint that would see Anglesey become the "energy island".

Eventually that would mean training courses linked to local colleges and universities as a way of giving locals the right skills.

He said: "This is part of our vision for a green, low carbon economy. Renewable energy is proving to be the biggest source of inward investment."

The final curtain fell on nearly 40 years of smelting last September at Anglesey Aluminium after desperate last-ditch negotiations and the offer of a ?48 million rescue package from the Welsh Assembly Government and Westminster came to nothing. The smelter depended for its survival on cheap electricity from Wylfa nuclear power station, which is set to close this year.