UK-made steel spans wind turbine blade factory expansion

Tata Steel, the UK’s largest steelmaker, has supplied more than 1,500 tonnes of high-strength steel to help create a vast new extension to the off-shore wind turbine blade factory in Hull for Siemens Gamesa.

Designed so the giant blades can be easily manoeuvred around the building, it had to have 40-metre clear spans, with a working height of 18 metres and significant load-bearing capability, to accommodate the various cranes and gantries required for the manufacturing process. This was made possible by using Tata Steel’s innovative Celsius^® structural hollow section products which are able to provide the strength needed for the large unsupported spans.