This brings the total government investment in the development of new wind technology on the Isle of Wight to just less than £10m, with half from SEEDA and half from DECC. The funding will allow Vestas to develop its next generation of offshore blades.
The funding is being provided on a competitive basis; Vestas, along with other companies, bid against the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) scheme for offshore wind R&D.
Vestas submitted its bid earlier this year for funding for two different projects under the ETF - developing new ways of validation and testing and developing automated manufacturing processes.
The company currently employs 160 people on the Isle of Wight. By the time the new R&D centre opens in 2011, this figure is expected to grow to 200 people and to 400 over the following years.
The R&D centre will strengthen the composites cluster and expertise on the island, which includes aerospace engineering company GKN, which SEEDA is also working with.
Project to investigate hybrid approach to titanium manufacturing
What is this a hybrid of? Superplastic forming tends to be performed slowly as otherwise the behaviour is the hot creep that typifies hot...