Contracts worth £150 million have been awarded to a Spanish shipyard by Scottish Power to build the steel parts necessary for the foundations of a wind farm off the coast of East Anglia.
Scottish Power is owned by the Spanish utility giant Iberdrola and it is expected that the Scottish Power will benefit from large subsidies for the development.
The wind farm project is expected to take 15 years at a cost of £2.5 billion.
A British company, the Newcastle-based OGN Group, had been in the running and hoped to secure the contracts, perhaps particularly in regard to the Northern Powerhouse concept which had been promoted by the Cameron government.
The MP for North Tyneside, Mary Glindon, said: “If the Government wants to ensure work for British workers, they have to take a stronger line with these companies.
“Why should the British taxpayer give money to support companies unless there is some material benefit to the UK? It is not international aid, it is business”.
Scottish Power said the contract had been award after open tenders. It selected the Spanish firm Navantia on the basis of its technical and economic competitiveness.
A spokesperson said: “We are working with a range of UK suppliers and supporting major investment in UK infrastructure.
It is not possible to award contracts to every UK company which tenders, especially if bids are not competitive”.
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