Siemens AG will freeze new wind power investment plans in the U.K. until it has further clarity on the U.K.’s future trade relationship with the European Union, a spokeswoman for the company said. Last week, 51.9% of Britain voted in favor of Britain leaving the Union.
According to a Bloomberg report, Siemens agreed in 2014 to invest 160 million pounds ($215 million) in a blade factory in Hull to supply parts for its 7-MW offshore wind turbine. While the factory is still on track to open in the coming months, the company has halted longer-term export plans until the U.K. government provides more clarity on how it will trade with the rest of the EU.
Juergen Maier, the firm’s UK CEO, said that an existing blueprint to export offshore wind turbine machinery from the Hull hub was now up in the air, according to the original report in The Guardian.
It is unclear how much money the EU gave to the Hull project but it has put up £525m for the Beatrice windfarm project in Scotland, whose developer will be a major buyer of the Hull factory’s turbine blades, the Guardian reported.
