ENGINEERING firm Siemens is to create around 340 jobs in a new renewable energy project.

The work will be focused on the design and building of systems which transfer energy from offshore wind farms to the national grid.

Both new graduates and workers already within the engineering field will be taken on by the firm, which employs 16,000 people in the UK.

Siemens hope the hi-tech jobs will meet the needs of the expanding renewable energy market in the UK and North West Europe. The majority of the roles will be based at a purpose-built facility currently under construction at Princess Park, Manchester.

The building, opening next year, will be called The Renewable Energy Engineering Centre, and house Siemens’ Global Centre of Competence for High Voltage Grid Connections (HVDC).

John Willcock, director of major projects for Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd said: “The UK’s Round 3 offshore wind farms will be sited much further out to sea than previous developments and so will need HVDC technology to overcome the power losses that occur when bringing electricity ashore over longer distances.”