DWD obtained planning permission on behalf of LeMond Carbon UK for a new, state-of-the-art carbon fibre manufacturing plant at Energy Park Way, Grimsby.
LeMond Carbon was founded by Greg LeMond, a three times Tour de France winner. The firm has applied its carbon fibre expertise in high-performance cycling to other fields, notably the manufacture of wind turbine blades and pressure vessels for hydrogen storage. Both are critical to the UK’s net zero ambitions. Only with carbon fibre can blade masses be managed and overall stiffness increased at longer blade lengths. In the hydrogen propulsion sector, carbon fibre is essential to the production of storage tanks (pressure vessels) as well as in fuel cell stacks and battery housings.
LeMond Carbon has partnered with Deakin University in Australia, which has developed new production technology for carbon fibre that reduces the cost of production by 30% and carbon emissions by 50%. LeMond is commercialising this new technology and bringing it into mass production just as the global need for carbon fibre is soaring.
The UK has been almost entirely dependent upon imported carbon fibre. The UK Government has recognised the need for indigenous supply and has supported LeMond to set up a new facility at Energy Park Way, Grimsby. DWD were instructed in 2024, tasked with obtaining planning permission, which was achieved in January 2025.