A WIND turbine production facility, expected to bring 400 jobs to the Tees Valley, could be up and running by the spring, it emerged yesterday.

Only two months after revealing plans for the £20m facility, TAG Energy Solutions has started construction of the factory at Haverton Hill, in Billingham, near Stockton.

The firm announced in September that it intended to build the factory manufacturing offshore wind turbine foundations.

Contractors are now in the process of erecting the steel frame for the 6,920sq ft building.

The plant will create about 100 jobs immediately, with a further 300 likely to follow should orders meet expectations.

Planned investment in offshore wind projects already amounts to more than £100bn in UK waters alone, and representatives of TAG are believed to be working to secure the first contracts for the plant.

TAG Energy Solutions chief executive Alex Dawson said: “Embarking on the construction of the facility is an important milestone in the creation of a robust and effective supply chain for the offshore wind market.

“As the building takes shape it sends a message to the sector that we aim to play a serious role in the marketplace and we have real confidence that the UK and, of course, the North-East, will have a major influence on the offshore wind industry.”

As well as investing millions of pounds of its own money in the facility, TAG has secured finance for the project from investors Platina Partners, which pursues investment opportunities in renewable energy infrastructure, and Environmental Technologies Fund, a European venture capital fund.

In addition, the company has received £3m in grants from the Department for Energy and Climate Change and regional development agency, One North East.

It comes as the region is making major strides to become an international centre for renewable energy developments, including wind power and electric vehicles.

Hartlepool firm JDR Cables is a world leader in producing cables to connect wind turbines, Clipper Windpower is developing the world’s largest turbine blade at a £25m riverside plant near Newcastle, and Europe’s leading wind turbine testing factory is at the New and Renewable Energy Centre, in Northumberland.

In addition, Tata Steel, formerly Corus, has announced plans to develop its own £31.5m factory producing offshore wind turbine foundations, near Redcar, east Cleveland, potentially creating 220 jobs.