ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall have awarded contracts worth over £17m for the creation of two weather-monitoring stations for the 7200MW East Anglia offshore Wind zone off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

The project’s capacity is said to be capable of generating green energy enough to power 5m homes.

It will be one of the world’s largest renewable energy projects, according to ScottishPower.

Aberdeen based Wood Group received the contracts, with Steel Engineering of Renfrewshire being awarded the key manufacturing subcontract.

The monitoring stations will commence manufacturing in November and be installed in summer 2013.

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The offshore stations will be mounted on two mono-pile steel structures; one located in the North of the East Anglia development zone and one in the South.

The 1000 tonnes of steel required for these foundations will be manufactured at a new engineering facility in Renfrew.

The manufacturing plant, on the outskirts of Glasgow, will support 100 jobs, according to ScottishPower.

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables and Head of Iberdrola’s Global Offshore wind division, said:

"The award of these first manufacturing contracts to UK companies clearly demonstrates why the development of the offshore sector offers one of the most significant opportunities for the post-recessionary UK economy.

"It will support a new supply chain that will attract billions of pounds of investment and create highly skilled employment in the engineering and construction sectors."

Although East Anglia Offshore Wind is still in the early stages of development, today’s contracts announcement brings the total investment with UK companies by the project to £50m.

(IT)