How SeAH Wind's biggest order was cancelled and why it's important
The only tenant on Teesworks appears to be facing a storm brewing as chief exec replaced and production delayed
Today’s edition is bumper-sized, looking into the troubles facing SeAH Wind after it lost its biggest order. Hopefully I’ve picked up on a few details and added context to the story here which might be easily missed unless you’re the sort of person without a life who’s been neck-deep in the Teesworks saga for the last few years.
Credit to Ray Casey who got the scoop and reported the news of SeAH losing the Hornsea 3 contract for North East Bylines. After my story of SeAH’s CEO being replaced last week, it set him off digging and he found the news hidden in the energy sector trade press.
Incredible what happens when you have a healthy, mutual local media, isn’t it? I’m a big believer in media plurality - all outlets have a different role to play for different audiences, in order to build that bigger, complete picture of what’s actually happening.
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Leigh
🏭 Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are on the hook for a huge legal bill after refusing planning permission for a waste-to-energy incinerator at Wilton last year, despite an officer recommendation to approve the project. The incinerator’s developers, CSG, have now won their appeal with the Planning Inspectorate, with the inspector awarding costs against the authority. The council offered no evidence during the appeal hearing.
According to the inspector, “the authority acted unreasonably in refusing planning permission in the first instance, as demonstrated by its subsequent decision not to contest the appeal.”
The council confirmed to me the costs will be paid from its revenue budget (ie by council tax payers).
SeAH Wind had its first order cancelled, after it was unable to provide the monopiles for the Hornsea 3 offshore windfarm. The news comes at the same time it was confirmed the company has replaced its CEO.
A joint statement between SeAH Wind and Danish energy company Ørsted, who ordered the monopiles, said they had “mutually agreed to discontinue monopile production.”
It’s a year this week since King Charles officially opened the SeAH factory at Teesworks, but the company is yet to deliver a single customer order, despite apparently beginning production in July last year.
The contract to deliver the monopiles was officially signed in September 2022, just after construction on the enormous factory at Teesworks began, but production issues and industrial disputes have plagued the project.
Hornsea 3 is set to be the world’s biggest windfarm, and according to the recent joint statement between SeAH and Ørsted the windfarm’s timeline “remains protected and uncompromised,” meaning it’s expected to be operational by the end of 2027 despite SeAH’s failures.
SeAH’s share of the work for the windfarm is believed to have now gone to other companies in Europe, in a blow to the UK’s manufacturing and green energy sectors.
The statement says relieving SeAH of this work allows it to “focus on the safe and reliable delivery of its secured order backlog through to 2027.
“This underlines confidence in SeAH Wind’s technical capability, manufacturing scale, and long-term role in the UK and European offshore wind supply chain”.
The company is set to produce monopiles for both of RWE’s Norfolk Vanguard windfarms, with manufacturing due to begin at its Teesside factory this year.
SeAH’s factory site is, of course, on the site of the infamous “£100” land deal.
South Tees Development Corporation sold the 90-acre plot in 2022 to Teesworks Ltd (owned by Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney) for less than £100, although a side deal worth £15m related to the purchase had its balance paid off at the end of 2025.
Teesworks instantly sold a 40-year lease on the land to Australian financial firm Macquarie for a cash sum of £90m, meaning an instant profit of £75m which was supposed to be used for future redevelopment of the site. The duo in charge have instead plundered the pot by paying themselves dividends, leaving only £2m left in the company’s coffers.
The complex chain of ownership continues, with Macquarie leasing the site back to Tees Valley Combined Authority for £3.65m a year. TVCA lease it to SeAH for £4.3m a year. If SeAH vanishes, TVCA is still liable to Macquarie for an inflation-linked £3.65m a year.
So far SeAH is the only tenant at Teesworks.
Ben Houchen’s selective omission
The news of SeAH losing its contract with Ørsted came at an incredible moment for people outside the energy sector - the day after the first monopiles for Hornsea 3 arrived at Teesworks… from Spain.
Ørsted had shared the contract for Hornsea 3’s monopiles between SeAH and Spanish company Haizea Wind, who manufactured the six monopiles at their factory in Bilbao.
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen celebrated the arrival of the Spanish monopiles on social media, conveniently ignoring the elephant in the room.
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