Norwegian energy firms Statoil and Statkraft have awarded a contract worth approximately £500m to Siemens to deliver turbines for the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the east of England, UK.

Under the contract, Siemens will manufacture, supply, install and commission 67 6MW direct-drive wind turbines.

Turbine installation is expected to start in 2017 and the contract includes a five-year service and maintenance agreement.

Siemens Energy wind power division CEO Markus Tacke said: “With Dudgeon we extend our project pipeline for this new turbine.

“This gives us the opportunity to further ramp up production capacity, which is a precondition to bring down the costs for offshore wind.”

The Dudgeon offshore wind farm, which is expected to cost £1.5bn, is located 32km north of the city of Cromer in North Norfolk.

The wind farm will deliver enough energy for around 410,000 households in the UK.

Statoil owns a 70% stake in the wind farm, and Statkraft holds the remaining stake.

As per the plan, the companies will initially build an onshore substation and lay cables on land before commencing offshore construction in 2016.

Statoil will operate the wind farm, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2017.

The UK Government awarded the license for the Dudgeon site in the Round 2 allocation in 2003.