Work on a £2.5bn wind farm off the coast of East Anglia could start next year, after the energy company behind it committed to the project.

The final investment decision from ScottishPower Renewables means that it will now push ahead with work on East Anglia One with the aim of completing it by 2020.

The work will create up to 3,000 jobs, with at least half of the £2.5bn investment spent in the UK.

The project will generate 714 megawatts, enough to power the equivalent of 500,000 homes or the majority of the households in Suffolk and Norfolk.

The project will bring investment to the local economy, including a £25m deal with the Port of Lowestoft to be the home of the windfarm for 30-plus years, during construction and operation phases.

ScottishPower Renewables said East Anglia ONE was the most cost-efficient offshore windfarm ever to confirm construction. The price of £119 MWh was secured after an auction process run by the Government, and is more than 15pc lower than other offshore wind projects in construction elsewhere in the UK, it said.

Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia One project director, said: 'East Anglia One will deliver substantial environmental benefits for the UK, it will stimulate considerable UK investment, and it will support thousands of jobs.

'Offshore wind has proven itself as a technology that works, and the more offshore wind capacity we have in the UK, the more secure our energy supplies will be.

'East Anglia has some of the best conditions anywhere in the world for the development of offshore wind, and we are fully committed to the region, with future developments already in the pipeline.

'ScottishPower Renewables is leading the way with its approach of actively working towards a target of at least 50pc UK supply chain content over the lifetime of the East Anglia One project.

'We have already worked with a wide range of companies across East Anglia and we look forward to working with many more.'

East Anglia One is the first of four wind farms ScottishPower Renewables is planning to build off the East coast.