Harland & Wolff has continued its push into the renewable energy sector by securing a new contract to build 30 wind turbines.

It is understood that an order had been received for 30 turbines, each of which could produce five megawatts of electricity.

The deal is thought to be worth £10m but the company has not officially disclosed who it is with.

A spokesman for Harland & Wolff said that details of the contract were still to be finalised and an announcement would likely be made in a week to 10 days.

The order follows the firm’s recent delivery of an order for 60 wind turbines weighing 230 tonnes each which have been installed in the seabed at Robin Rigg off the coast of Scotland.

The 60-turbine wind farm is operated by E.ON Climate and Renewables, the leading German energy company.

Its increased focus on wind turbines marks a diversification away from the core ship building and repair work for which Harland & Wolff became renowned.

When it built the Titanic the shipyard employed thousands of workers but following a decline in shipbuilding it now has a core workforce of 150 and around 50 temporary workers. The extra business is expected to help the firm secure those staffing levels.

Chief executive Robert Cooper said in an interview with the BBC that the company was now putting a large amount of its resources into renewable energy, building on the knowledge and experience gained in ship and energy repairs.