Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has welcomed new plans unveiled by Boris Johnson to make the UK a world-leader in green energy – with Teesside leading the way.
The Prime Minister announced this evening (October 5) that Teesside will get a share of £160million to upgrade ports and infrastructure for UK offshore wind capacity, which is already the largest in the world and currently meets 10% of our electricity demand.
This new investment will enable the sector to potentially support 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030 in ports, factories and the supply chains manufacturing the next generation of offshore wind turbines and delivering clean energy to the UK.
The funding for Teesside will allow the Government to move towards its commitment of ensuring offshore wind will produce more than enough electricity to power every home in the country by 2030.
The announcement comes just days after Government confirmed it was bringing the UK’s first Hydrogen Transport Centre to Teesside, where research, development and testing of new hydrogen technologies, including for cars, buses, trains, lorries, boats and planes will take place.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “It is fantastic that not only is the Government showing another commitment to investing in clean energy, but it is once again realising that Teesside is the best place to lead the industries and jobs of the future.
“On the Teesworks site, we’ve already announced plans for 4.5million sq ft of state-of-the-art manufacturing space that will be used for offshore wind and will create 9,000 jobs, and this will be just a stone’s throw away from Net Zero Teesside, which is also creating thousands of new, clean jobs.
“I guarantee that nowhere in the country is better placed than Teesside to be the centre of Boris Johnson’s green industry revolution. Our plans are in place and diggers and local workers are on site now getting the Teesworks land ready for redevelopment so we can create thousands good quality, clean, 21st century jobs for local people.
“Last week, the Government announced Teesside as the location for the UK’s National Hydrogen Transport Centre, and just days later, it is making another significant investment in our clean growth potential, recognising that Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool can become a trail blazer in the industries of the future.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Our seas hold immense potential to power our homes and communities with low-cost green energy and we are already leading the way in harnessing its strengths.
“Now, as we build back greener, we are committing to new ambitious targets and investment into wind power to accelerate our progress towards net zero emissions by 2050.
“This sets us on our path towards a green industrial revolution, which will provide tens of thousands of highly-skilled jobs.”
