The second largest offshore wind farm in the world was today officially opened by energy and business minister Michael Fallon.

Greater Gabbard, off the coast of Suffolk, cost £1.3b and will generate enough clean energy to power over 500,000 homes.

It has 140 turbines, and will double in size once the Galloper wind farm extension is completed in 2017.

Mr Fallon said: 'The UK leads the world in offshore wind power generation with more capacity than the rest of the world combined, and we want to see this sector grow even further.

'Greater Gabbard has already brought jobs and wider benefit to the local community, with hundreds of people employed on site, and a £150,000 fund created to support local initiatives, which will be managed by Suffolk Community Foundation.

'It has also benefited local business.

'Today, I visited Seajacks, a British company based in Great Yarmouth, who are building the world's largest and most advanced offshore wind farm installation vessel to transport turbines out to this great wind farm.

'This sector is an engine of our economy. By the end of this decade, tens of thousands of additional jobs could be created in the supply-chain for offshore wind throughout the UK.'

Mr Fallon also visited the Sizewell nuclear power plant to learn more about how Greater Gabbard will connect to the national transmission network.