The huge 78,000sq m facility, in the South Bank zone of the Teesworks site, will sit alongside a new 1km heavy lift quay, creating the UK’s premier location for offshore wind.

Ground remediation and clearance works are well underway with more than 40 people currently employed at the site.

A £1m 95-tonne excavator, one of only three in the UK, recently joined the 40-strong machinery fleet to speed up land preparation works ahead of the facility’s construction, set to begin in October.

Local firm Hall Construction bought the excavator to move more than 1.5million cubic metres of earth by the end of the year.

Up to 2,250 jobs will be created to support the construction of GE Renewable Energy’s factory.

The first blade is expected to roll off the production line in 2023, with the factory serving Dogger Bank, the world’s largest wind farm located just 80 miles off the North East coast.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “I’m excited to reveal the huge plans for this mammoth manufacturing facility. The real regeneration of this site is beginning to take shape right in front of our eyes and, with it, creating real jobs on the ground as we speak.

“We’re clearing ground and delivering a construction-ready site primed for developers and now we’ve got global investors right here at the UK’s largest Freeport building this massive factory. A factory producing wind turbine blades, boosting our clean energy ambitions by supplying the growing offshore wind energy sector.

“Work is ramping up on projects throughout the whole Teesworks site and we’re creating hundreds of good-quality, well-paid local jobs for people from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool right now, as well as securing thousands more for the future.”

Planned GE blade manufacturing plant in Teesside