North East’s key role in offshore wind celebrated in national report on industry’s 25th anniversary

THE outsized role played by the North East in the rapid expansion of the UK’s offshore wind industry has been highlighted in a national report marking 25 years this week since its launch.

The nation’s offshore wind supply officially began when a two-turbine wind farm was officially opened half a mile from the Northumberland coast at Blyth, by then Energy Minister, Helen Liddell in December, 2000.

That experimental farm powered up to 3,000 homes, but fast forward 25 years, and in November 2025, wind power set a new record when enough electricity was briefly generated from turbines to power 22 million of the UK’s 28 million homes.

But throughout that exponential expansion all around UK waters, Blyth and the North East coast have continued to be at the cutting edge of its development – with the ports of Blyth, Tees and Tyne involved in some of the biggest wind projects in the world, while Hartlepool and Sunderland also play their part.

The national analysis by energy think-tank Ember was released especially to coincide with the inauguration of the pilot project in Blyth, by then Energy Minister, Helen Liddell.

The report, ‘25 Years of British Offshore Wind’ points out that 25 years since Blyth’s installation successfully opened, offshore wind turbines are now installed in greater numbers, at taller heights and in deeper waters, with 47 offshore wind farms currently in operation. 

At one of the most recently completed offshore wind farms, off the North East coast of Scotland, a single turbine generates more than three times the power output of the entire Blyth offshore wind farm.

The blades at Moray West sweep an area 10 times larger than those originally at Blyth.

However, the Northumberland town’s prominence in the wind business remains significant, with Frankie Mayo, the lead author of the Ember report, pointing out: “Blyth remains a critical part of the offshore wind industry, and the area around Blyth is still an important part of the future of offshore wind. 

“One of the largest offshore wind farms, Sofia, is currently under construction based out of the Port of Blyth. 

“Furthermore, a second demonstration wind farm is pushing engineering solutions to new frontiers, using the largest turbine foundations in the world and the novel ‘float and submerge’ method of foundation transportation.

“Blyth also hosts significant manufacturing and testing capabilities – a core part of stabilising the development process. The ORE National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth, was expanded in November 2025 and now covers blade, voltage and extreme condition testing facilities, among others.”

But Blyth is not the only contributor to the North East’s success story on wind.

The report acknowledges: “without local port infrastructure, neither construction nor maintenance would be possible. 

“For the Dogger Bank wind farm, currently under construction, an estimated £4.4 million was spent on the construction of a new operations and maintenance base at the Port of Tyne.

“Importantly for the British supply chain, critical components are constructed in the country, like the inter-array cables at JDR in Hartlepool and the offshore substations at Smulders UK Yard in Newcastle.”

Beyond that, as well as boasting the Dogger Bank headquarters, the Port of Tyne also recently announced the Tyne Clean Energy Park, a £150 million project adding 400 meters of deep-water quayside to become a major hub for offshore renewables, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, aiming to create thousands of jobs.

The Port also attracted £923m investment for a major manufacturing facility to produce high-voltage subsea and underground cables for offshore wind farms, creating hundreds of local jobs and a distinctive 202-metre tower for cable sheathing which will become an iconic landmark on the Tyne.

Meanwhile, the Port of Tees has emerged as one of the UK’s most significant offshore wind hubs, anchored by the Teesport Offshore Gateway – a £200m initiative led by PD Ports.

Teesport is central to Teesside’s offshore wind cluster, attracting manufacturers, logistics firms, and service providers, with the site offering lock-free access to the North Sea, ideal for large turbine components and floating platforms

Up the coast, the Port of Hartlepool is to benefit from hundreds of jobs as a result of the Dogger Bank development, while further north, the Port of Sunderland is acting as a key storage facility for Scotland’s Moray wind farm: 

Reflecting on some of the largest windfarms in the world currently under construction and the potential for even greater growth than the last 25 years, the Ember report noted: “Around 40,000 people are employed in the offshore wind sector across the UK, with 7,000 of those jobs newly added in the last two years.

“With a large queue of new offshore wind farms in development, new manufacturing facilities and engineering laboratories, the next 25 years could see records continue to be broken and jobs created in Blyth and across Britain.”