Renewable energy firm wants Scottish base

The Sunday Times
May 3, 2009
Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall Wind Power is hoping to set up UK headquarters in Edinburgh and increase workforce

Ian Fraser

Vattenfall Wind Power, the Swedish state-owned utility, is poised to establish its UK headquarters in Edinburgh later this year as it seeks to consolidate its position in Britain’s renewables sector.
The firm last week hired Jason Ormiston, the chief executive of Scottish Renewables, the industry lobby group, to oversee its UK communications.
Ingegerd Bills, the Stockholm-based head of communications at Vattenfall, said it was too early to confirm the precise location of the new UK headquarters. But it is understood David Hodkinson, the managing director of Vattenfall, will relocate from Hexham for Amec Wind Energy in October and £51.5m the previous month for Lincolnshire-based Eclipse Energy UK.
Vattenfall has also formed a partnership with Iberdrola subsidiary Scottish Power Renewables to bid for offshore wind farms off the UK coast.
Vattenfall employs 30 people in the UK but Bills said this was likely to “grow considerably”, adding: “It is very early days for us”. Vattenfall aims to “become the fastest-growing wind energy company in northern Europe”, he said.