More than 300 jobs at the Vestas wind turbine blade factory in Newport on the Isle of Wight have been secured after the UK government confirmed a £20mn grant to safeguard the site’s future.

The Danish manufacturer has operated on the Isle of Wight for more than 20 years and currently employs approximately 600 people, but the factory faced an uncertain future after demand for the V174 offshore blades it produced there declined. Modern blades are now 50% larger and the site cannot be adapted to make them.  

The funding will enable the Newport site to become the UK’s only onshore wind blade manufacturing facility.

The move follows the government’s decision to lift the onshore wind ban in July 2024, reviving an industry that had seen little growth for almost a decade.  

Climate Minister Katie White said it was a ‘no-brainer’ to save the Vestas factory: ‘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.’

Ørsted sells European onshore business to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

In a separate development, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has agreed to acquire Ørsted’s European onshore business in a deal worth €1.44bn.  

Ørsted’s European onshore business is active in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Spain, and spans onshore wind, solar and battery storage projects. It comprises an operational capacity of 578 MW, plus 248 MW under construction and a broader development pipeline.  

Mads Skovgaard-Andersen, Chief Information Officer and Partner in CIP, commented: ‘The combined onshore wind, solar and BESS portfolio complements our existing project portfolio and gives us the scale to further accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and strengthen Europe’s energy independence while delivering strong, risk-adjusted returns to our investors.’

Ørsted continues to own and operate its onshore business in the US, which has been a stand-alone business since October 2025.