Associated British Ports (ABP) reports that construction work is progressing well on the Alexandra Dock reclamation project for its new £500m Green Port Hull development, due to be begin operations in one year’s time.

Marine piling for the new quay wall is “almost complete” and 1m cu m of sand has already been poured into the 7.5-hectare reclaim.

Green Port Hull is a plan by ABP and regional authorities to establish the Humberside port and its surrounding region as a world-class centre for renewable energy. Launch of the project followed German manufacturer Siemens’ selection of Hull in March 2014 as the site for its new facility for the manufacture of 75-metre wind turbine blades.

The Siemens Offshore Wind Manufacturing and Export Facility is to be main tenant of Alexandra Dock and is due begin operations in late 2016, connected to the rest of the port by new secure road/rail links.

Hull enjoys a strategic location on the UK’s busiest trading estuary, points out ABP, and is

within 12 hours’ sailing of several major new ‘Round Three’ offshore wind farms being developed by the UK in the Channel and North Sea. A new dry bulk warehouse capable of storing up to 26,000 tonnes of biomass also opened at the port earlier this month.