Siemens is to build a wind turbine factory worth €200 million (£142m) in Germany.

It will be located at the edge of Cuxhaven’s harbour and will cover an area of 170,000 square meters – the equivalent of roughly 24 football fields.

The location allows heavy components to be loaded directly onto transportation vessels, avoiding expensive ground transportation, the company claims.

It is expected to start manufacturing its so-called “next-generation D7” offshore wind turbines in 2017.

They are designed to have a capacity of 7MW.

The company expects the project to create up to 1,000 new jobs.

Markus Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power and Renewables Division said: “We’re looking forward to building at this factory the most efficient and reliable ‘Made in Germany’ wind turbines. We invest where we see opportunities for growth – and Germany and Northern Europe are dynamic growth markets for us. The new factory will also make an important contribution toward helping us reach our goal of making wind power competitive.”

Siemens is also working on a wind turbine factory in Hull.