A NORTH-EAST offshore wind farm will be officially opened today (Wednesday, April 16).

Energy Minister Michael Fallon and Henri Proglio, president of energy supplier EDF Group, will unveil a plaque to celebrate the Teesside wind farm.

Bosses say the 27-turbine project, based off the coast of Redcar, is capable of powering about 40,000 homes.

The wind farm is the first to be built and entirely owned by the EDF Group.

Construction provided work for a number of firms, including MPI Offshore, of Stokesley, North Yorkshire, which transported and installed parts.

Marske Site Services, also of Stokesley, dropped 7,000 tonnes of County Durham rock next to turbine foundations to stop seabed erosion.