“Real jobs for real people” are set to be created at Lowestoft as a result of more than £4billion worth of investment in developing two offshore wind farms through its port, a sector leader says.

Activity in the port will start “very soon” with long and short-term jobs creation for hundreds of local people, Johnathan Reynolds, business development lead at Lowestoft renewables hub OrbisEnergy said.

“This is incredible news for Lowestoft. It is much more than major energy companies building world-leading wind farms off our coast – this is also about real jobs for real people in and around the community of Lowestoft,” he said, adding that the news had “extra poignancy” as a result of the challenges and uncertainties in the oil and gas sector.

“The real benefit of these developments is for the security of the UK’s power supply which will be felt in families and homes in the Lowestoft area and beyond, with skills training, jobs during the construction period of East Anglia ONE and Galloper, the rest of the East Anglia zone for years to come and then the long-term jobs for operations and maintenance of all the offshore wind farms off Lowestoft for decades to come.”

Among the firms to benefit from the boom will be OrbisEnergy tenant James Fisher and Sons plc, which has a £25million contract for the next two years providing offshore and marine services for construction of the Galloper Offshore wind farm would generate 100 new jobs, mostly in the Lowestoft area.

ScottishPower Renewables this week announced hundreds of long-terms jobs and thousands during construction would be created for the region with confirmation it was committing the necessary funding for the project. In November, East Anglia ONE agreed a £25m deal with Lowestoft port to be home of the project for the next 30 years.

“Offshore wind power is a major part of our huge potential for growth in the energy sector,” said Mr Reynolds.