UP TO 200 jobs to be created in the Tees Valley as a result of the expansion of wind farms off Britain’s coastline could be the first of thousands, it was claimed last night.

The Tees Alliance Group yesterday received a £1.5m Government grant to develop an automated facility for the rolling and welding of large diameter tubes and foundations for wind turbines, at its Haverton Hill yard, near Stockton.

It will create 50 permanent jobs, a figure which could increase to 100, on top of a further 100 roles for subcontractors and the supply chain.

The announcement came on the day The Crown Estate, which owns the UK’s coastal seabeds, awarded energy companies the rights to develop offshore wind farms in nine areas off the British coastline.

The zones include Dogger Bank, about 80 miles off the North-East coast, which is the size of North Yorkshire and, if fully developed, is likely to be the world’s largest offshore wind project.

Steve Parfitt, general manager of Hartlepoolbased JDR Cables, which produces cables to connect wind turbines, said the announcement was “wonderful news” and described the North-East as “very well placed to win its share of that business”.

Also set to benefit is the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Northumberland, which is developing the world’s largest blade-testing facility.

Narec is also working with ClipperWindpower and Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe on new, larger turbines, designed specifically for wind farms such as those announced yesterday.

In September it emerged Clipper would develop the world’s largest turbine blade at a riverside plant near Newcastle.

The 70-metre blades, for use in 175m-high offshore wind turbines, will each generate 10MW of power.

And Siemens is understood to be considering sites in the North-East for a wind turbine factory.

JDR has supplied cables for Greater Gabbard, off the Suffolk coast, which is presently the world’s largest offshore windfarm, with 140 turbines, and has a contract for the London Array, off the Kent coast, for possibly 300 turbines.

George Rafferty, chief executive of Durham City based NOF Energy, which represents more than 300 companies in the oil, gas and energy sectors, said: “There is a wealth of skills and experience in the oil and gas supply chain in the North-East that are transferable to the offshore wind sector.

“This will provide new opportunities and help create some of the 60,000 jobs that are believed will be generated by the development of these offshore turbines.”

He added: “We have been working with our members for some time to help them gear up for developments in offshore wind.”

In December, Narec, which already has the UK’s only full scale blade-testing facility, announced it had received £15m from the Government and regional development agency One North East to build a 100metre blade-testing facility at Blyth, which would be the biggest in the world and potentially vital to manufacturers of the turbines required for the new wind farms.

Narec, a technology advisor to the Crown Estate, is also working on developing a 20-turbine offshore demonstration farm.

The wind farms could provide enough energy to power 19 million homes.

Construction could begin by 2013.