Offshore platform decommissioning work will begin in Great Yarmouth this spring after the town's Veolia-Peterson partnership was awarded two major contracts.

The work is expected to take four years to complete and will create 10 new jobs at the joint venture, which hopes to establish Great Yarmouth as the decommissioning centre for the Southern North Sea.

The facility has set a target of recycling 96% of the materials, which will come from a gas production complex platforms located around 40 miles off the town's coast.

Decommissioning – the safe dismantling and disposal of offshore oil and gas platforms – has been seen in recent years as a potential stimulus for the energy industry, and is projected to cost between £24bn and £36bn over the next 30 years.

Simon Davies, decommissioning general manager of Veolia, said: 'The industry has been looking for collaboration and these new contracts show collaboration in action right down the supply chain.

'Our partnership has worked well at a number of sites and projects over the last 10 years, and we are very pleased to secure the first important contracts into Great Yarmouth.'

Ron van der Laan, regional director of Peterson, said: 'We have been working hard on this development since 2013. These contract awards are a significant milestone and step towards establishing Great Yarmouth as a centre of excellence for decommissioning in the southern North Sea.'

The new structures will be received at the new decommissioning site at Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour.