Plans for GE Renewable Energy's mammoth wind turbine blade factory have been given the go-ahead.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen welcomed the major milestone in the redevelopment of the Teesworks site.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council have given the green light for the construction of the huge 76,200sq m facility, in the South Bank zone of the Teesworks site, with construction due to begin later in 2021 for a 2023 completion.

LM Wind Power will operate the facility, which will be dedicated to the production of its 107-metre-long offshore wind turbine blades. These are a key component of GE’s Haliade-X, the most powerful offshore wind turbine built today and used at Dogger Bank, the world’s largest wind farm, located just 80 miles off the North East coast.

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The facility is one of the first major schemes to come to the Teesworks site and up to 2,250 jobs will be created to support the construction of the factory. When completed the huge factory will create up to 750 direct highly skilled jobs and close to 1,500 indirect jobs to support its supply chain

Mayor Houchen said: "It's fantastic news that this mammoth project has passed the planning hurdle and is on course to be up and running by 2023, helping to create thousands of well-paid, good-quality jobs for people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool both directly and in our brilliant supply chain businesses.

"We have been working hard to get the land ready for this exciting opportunity and now GE Renewable Energy can get the spades in the ground to make this a reality, bringing a much-needed boost to the construction sector as we recover our economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

"I want Teesside to be as synonymous with clean energy and Net Zero as Silicon Valley is for tech and social media, and from offshore wind to hydrogen fuels of the future we’re powering ahead like no other region in the country."