OFFSHORE wind farms could create 10,000 jobs in Yorkshire according to research by economic experts.

Andrew Fox, sector manager for environmental technologies at regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, said the organisation had carried out research showing that 10,000 of the half a million jobs expected to be generated by renewable-energy industries in the UK could be in Yorkshire.

The figures are based on three large manufacturers moving into Yorkshire and, with Siemens recently choosing the ABP Alexandra Dock site in Hull as its preferred location for an £80 million manufacturing plant, he said the agency was confident this would happen.

Mr Fox said: “Siemens was the market leader from 2008 to 2010. Every offshore turbine that was sold was a Siemens turbine, so getting Siemens to come to the Humber shows its potential.”

Richard Hall, supply chain manager for offshore wind at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, spoke at an event in York on Thursday with global wind-turbine manufacturers to encourage local businesses to provide the crucial elements in that chain.

He said: “The renewable sector as a whole could support half a million jobs by 2020 and wind could be a big slice of that. Wind is, I think, our best shot at meeting the renewable targets of 2020.”

Yorkshire Forward expects 2,500 of the new jobs to be factory jobs, which could replace similar posts lost in the region’s caravan, food or pharmaceutical industries. Another 2,500 jobs would be created by the broader supply chain, such as generators.

Skilled engineering jobs, such as consultants who can solve the technical questions of where cables will need to be located to bring the offshore power inland, and how energy will be converted, would create 5,000 jobs, and a further 5,000 would be created by associated professional services, such as surveyors and environmental consultants.

Northallerton-based steel businesses Severfield Rowen, Allerton Steel and coatings manufacturer 3m are already working in the sector, as are Malton-based Ellis Patents, but York’s input would probably be in professional services, such as the York office of chartered surveyors Carter Jonas, which acts for offshore landowners Crown Estate.