UK government to invest 95 million pounds in new offshore wind facilities

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will invest 95 million pounds ($132 million) in the construction of two new facilities to service a big expansion in offshore wind farms, creating around 6,000 jobs in the north of England, the government said on Wednesday.

Able Marine Energy Park, in the Humber region, will receive up to 75 million pounds, and Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre on Teesside, will get up to 20 million pounds.

The two sites will house manufacturers supporting the development of up to 9 GW of offshore wind energy projects each year, which will be enough electricity to power around 8 million homes, the government said.

Construction will begin later this year.

GE Renewable Energy has confirmed it will build a new offshore wind blade manufacturing factory on Teesside. The area was formerly home to much heavy industry, including the Redcar steelworks which went into liquidation in 2015.

It will start production in 2023 and supply blades to the Dogger Bank wind farm, off the coast of northeast England.

The government said the new infrastructure will help meet its target to quadruple offshore wind capacity 40 GW by 2030.

($1 = 0.7198 pounds)

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Toby Chopra)