A NORTH-EAST specialist underwater engineering firm is carrying out work to protect marine life near a Teesside wind farm development that will provide electricity to about 40,000 homes.

The Teesside wind farm, off the coast of Redcar, will include 27 turbines, each capable of generating up to 2.3 megawatts of power.

Energy supplier EDF Energy Renewables say the wind farm, where 16 turbines have now been installed, will start generating power within weeks.

The firm has appointed Marske Site Services (MSS), of Stokesley, North Yorkshire, to carry out a scour protection of the steel turbine monopile foundations, that have been sunk up to 30 metres into the sea bed.

The work, done from the Maersk Responder subsea construction vessel, will see large nets filled with loose stone placed around the base of each turbine, stopping the seabed from scouring and offsetting sediment removal caused by wave and tide movements.

Tim Bland, project manager, said: “Scour protection of the turbine foundations is a fundamental and important engineering requirement for the project to ensure the integrity and stability of the structures, and can increase biodiversity.

John McCullagh, MSS director, said: “We are pleased to have been entrusted with this critical package of work on the Teesside Offshore Wind Farm as we are a local company employing many local people.”