A new taskforce is aiming to put companies on the Tyne in position to create thousands of jobs by leading the world in offshore and renewable energy.
MPs, councillors, businesses and other organisations have joined the group, which wants to add to the 6,000 people working along the river in the booming sector.
The North East is benefitting from its proximity to huge wind farms being built in the North Sea, which has provided work for a number of engineering companies adapting their operations and workforces to the growth in renewable energy.
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That drive has been boosted over the last two years by the decision to site the operations and maintenance for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, being built at Dogger Bank in the North Sea, at the Port of Tyne, along with Government and private sector investment into the Smulders yard at Wallsend, which produces giant structures for the offshore wind and renewables industry.
As well as political representatives, the Port of Tyne, ORE Catapult and other businesses have joined the group which aims to attract more investment to the Tyne and bring thousands of jobs
In a joint statement, the Tyne Taskforce said: “We’re a region which works together and the Tyne Taskforce is a reflection of that, uniting people along the length of the Tyne and beyond, and letting investors from around the world know what’s great about our River Tyne.
“The Tyne has everything that forward-thinking investors need in order to grow their business: a skilled and loyal workforce, a pipeline of future talent, a strong focus on innovation, an established supply chain, competitive costs – and of course it’s an unbeatable place to live and work.
“We will look to maximise investment in the river with a focus on future proofing the river’s infrastructure, unlocking key development sites whilst managing the river to keep it healthy and thriving. By working on behalf of our communities, we will ensure that the benefits of job growth and prosperity along the river are directly felt by all of our communities.”
The North of Tyne Combined Authority has invested £20m in the the offshore and renewables sector in the last year as it aims to position the region at the front of an industry that is booming thanks to the UK’s net zero drive.
That included a £1.7m programme that provided grants to five companies to develop innovations that can be used in the offshore wind industry.
The taskforce - whose first meeting was attended by Tyneside MPs Nick Brown, Alan Campbell, Ian Mearns and Mary Glindon, as well as senior councillors from Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside - has been launched after figures from industry body Renewables UK showed that the UK has the largest pipeline of offshore wind energy in the world.
RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said: “It’s clear that offshore wind will be doing the heavy lifting as we secure our clean home-grown energy supplies and move faster towards independence from unstable fossil fuel imports.
“The global offshore wind market is also continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate with an extra 200GW added to the pipeline over the last year. As the UK was an early mover in offshore wind, we’re in a prime position to capitalise on our expertise as a market leader which is highly sought after worldwide.”
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