Mitsubishi’s newest project, a massive wind turbine factory, will do more than build state of the art clean energy; it will create lots of jobs. Lord Mandelson said the Mitsubishi investment, coming on top of a similar recent investment by Clipper Windpower of the US, gave the UK a real opportunity to become a world leader in the sector.

“No country makes offshore wind turbines of the size we are talking about today on a commercial scale,” he explained. “Twenty years ago, the UK was a leading center for onshore wind technology, but we failed to capitalize on that by not providing the right climate for growth. We are determined not to let that happen again. We are creating the largest market in the world for offshore wind and we intend to build and support the industry.”

Mitsubishi’s chief executive, Akio Fukui, said the firm was looking at a number of locations in the north-east. A prototype turbine will be built within three years and the first full-scale production could start after four years.