Energy and Environment in North England

There's huge opportunity for renewable energy in the UK and Europe. The European Union has more people than the United States, Canada and Mexico combined, with a larger percentage of its energy consumption coming from renewable sources.

North England's natural resources, industrial supply chain and infrastructure create the right blend for renewable energy companies to profit from renewable opportunities.

Wind

More than 40 percent of Europe's capability to produce energy from wind is in the UK and North England's geographic location along both UK coasts means that we have strong wind-producing methods. More importantly, the New and Renewables Centre of Excellence (Narec), in Blyth, offers world-class testing facilities for a range of projects in wind. It is a national center for the UK dedicated to accelerating the deployment and grid integration of renewable energy and low carbon generation technologies, utilizing wind, wave, tidal, solar PV and thermal power.

Huge offshore wind farms planned for the North Sea have placed North East England in an ideal position to manufacture large numbers of turbines for these farms. The world’s largest offshore turbine has been created by American group Clipper Windpower through its Britannia project at Blyth, adjacent to NaREC.

This centre has world-class testing facilities for wind turbine blades and electrical components. It also has R&D teams working on wind power related projects, and close links with researchers at Durham and Newcastle Universities.

Clipper has recently announced that it is to develop a turbine assembly plant at a site on the banks of the River Tyne, with backing worth £4.2 million from the UK Government.

"Most of the offshore wind is going to be in the North Sea, and so the east coast is where you need to be. The North East is looking very interesting, particularly where you've got the skills already there, you've got Blyth, the training on offer at Northumberland University, the New and Renewable Energy Centre, Clipper Wind. There is a nascent cluster already there," Dr Gordon Edge, BWEA (British Wind Energy Assn)

Marine

North England has an unbeatable combination in marine energy: superb natural resources, a heritage of excellence in marine-related engineering, and world-class research and testing facilities.

• Our history of ship building and oil and gas construction has produced a strong legacy of skilled labor in design and engineering for a marine environment.
• UK wave power levels are among the world's highest and account for over half of the wave energy in Europe, estimated at 50TWh per year. The eastern Irish Sea, off North England's west coast, offers one of the UK's most promising tidal resources.
• NaREC allows companies to concept and test designs, including tidal energy extraction prototypes, in a controlled environment. The Joule Centre is developing a wave/tidal flume testing facility at Manchester University.
• Financial support is available from the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, The Carbon Trust's Applied Research Programme, The Department of Trade and Industry's Grant for Research and Development, Envirolink Northwest and the Joule Centre.