Chain Reaction, the cluster of organisations representing Teesside’s growing renewable energy sector and its associated supply chain, held a strategy meeting in Middlesbrough on Friday (18th February) to discuss key issues and determine how the group should develop moving forwards.
The Cluster, consisting of senior level representatives from NOF Energy, EIC, JDR Cables, Narec, CTC Marine, TATA , Heerema, as well as others, met at PD Ports head office to network and meet with Hartlepool MP Iain Wright, as well as hear a presentation from The Crown Estate.
Iain Wright MP said: “Offshore wind energy generation aims to deliver a quarter of the UK electricity needs by 2020. I think this industry will provide the main source of employment and prosperity for Teesside, and Hartlepool in particular, for the next fifty years, but we have to grasp the challenges and opportunities now. We can only achieve this goal through collaboration with private industry and public bodies and I therefore welcome the economic benefits and potential for new jobs that the Chain Reaction cluster could bring to our area.”
Adrian Fox, supply chain manager for The Crown Estate, who presented at the meeting said: “The Crown Estate welcomes the recent commitments by several WTG manufacturers to locate on the east coast of the UK and see this as the starting point for a number of key decisions happening in the coming months. We are hopeful that the Tees Valley will be seeing its share of the potential business.”
Paul Barker, Business Development Director at PD Ports, commented: “Chain Reaction is an important collective voice, with members acknowledging that we need to work together to make our goal a reality. Teesside has the ideal skills, infrastructure and heritage to make this a success, as well as a deep sea port so critical to the huge-scale engineering required for off-shore wind developments.”
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Source: pdports, February 22, 2011