UTILITY WEEK | 21ST -27TH FEBRUARY 2020 |
9
Regional Growth & Utilities
Generating
change
continued overleaf
Espoused by the prime
minister at the launch of
COP26, offshore wind has
become the poster child of
clean energy. The latest in
our 'Regional Growth and
Utilities' series travels to
the Humber to hear how
its renewables story is
showing the way on local
regeneration. Suzanne
Heneghan reports.
R
egional growth policy may be the new wind blow-
ing through Westminster, but head up north to
the Humber and you'll see how offshore wind is
already transforming an area once in rapid decline.
In many ways, 2020 is this relatively young industry's
perfect moment, and the political plaudits are far from
surprising. It ticks many of the government's critical pol-
icy boxes for the coming decade, from net zero and sus-
tainability to the now all-important delivery of economic
growth to the regions.
The power of Grimsby
During the difficult, dark years of its declining fishing
industry, which had once made it the biggest fishing port
in the world, little did Grimsby know it would one day
become a shining beacon in the UK's renewables story.
At its maritime peak in the 1950s, the port's trawl-
ers brought in 500 tonnes of fish a day, but by the 1980s
that heyday was a distant memory. The fishing industry,
around which Grimsby's community had been built, had
dwindled, largely due to the notorious Cod Wars with its
Nordic rival, Iceland.
Today, the town's fish market remains one of the
most important in the UK, although most of what is sold
Emma Toulson, lead stakeholder adviser
for Ørsted in the UK
