Great Yarmouth chosen as Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone base

Vattenfall has announced the town's port, run by Peel Ports, is the preferred location for the operations and maintenance base for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone.

When completed, Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone will be able to power around 4.6m homes.

This would make it one of the largest offshore wind zones in the world, according to Rob Anderson, project director of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone.

The final decision for the energy giant's investment is dependent on the government’s policy and financial framework for offshore wind.

Vattenfall’s base will be at the new £21.4m operations and management campus commissioned by Norfolk County Council, in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership.

Recruitment for the new jobs should begin in 2026, with staff directly employed for the lifetime of the project - around 35 years.

Rob Anderson , project director of Vattenfall's Norfolk Zone (Image: Vattenfall)

Mr Anderson said: "We’re really pleased to be working with Peel Ports who’ll be providing us with a home for our Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone.

"It should be a great economic boost for the area with around 130 long-term jobs helping to manage the wind zone.

"All we need now is for government to play its part by providing a financial framework that gives us the certainty we need to invest so that local people can start seeing the benefits."

Councillor Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council (Image: Denise Bradley)

Carl Smith, borough council leader, said: “This operations and maintenance base has the potential to play a key role in delivering our forward-thinking regeneration strategy for the town, its residents and businesses.

"It will deliver new, highly skilled jobs for the offshore wind sector as renewables continue to play an ever-increasingly important role in the energy mix and the economic development of the UK."