The Energy Central partnership in the north-east of England has submitted a bid for UK government funding to support a package of port and infrastructure work to benefit offshore wind.
The investment proposal includes Northumberland Energy Park which is currently extending the depth of its dock facilities, as well as Battleship Wharf which provides access to a further four deep-water berths with 100-tonne lift capacity.
It also includes the Bates Terminal which is being redeveloped with the installation of an additional heavy lift quay and one kilometre of new access roads, has four hectares of development land with direct quayside access set aside to provide opportunities for offshore wind operations and maintenance facilities.
Energy Central, a partnership between Advance Northumberland, Port of Blyth, Northumberland County Council and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, put together the bid in response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to support new large-scale portside manufacturing hubs.
Following this the UK government requested submissions from suitable sites that could support next-generation offshore wind turbines and support ambitions in renewable energy deployment.
Energy Central’s plans include developing the already recognised offshore energy and supply chain cluster, which includes more than 200 hectares of strategic, quay linked development sites.
The investment will “unlock new job creation opportunities linked to the substantial growth of the global offshore wind sector and directly aligns with the UK Government’s levelling up agenda, as well as its ambition to provide low carbon energy to every UK home by 2030”, Energy Central said.
Advance Northumberland and the Port of Blyth have identified opportunities in the upper Blyth Estuary as prime locations for investment from the offshore energy sector businesses.
Energy Central is currently home to offshore organisations including Royal IHC, Enshore Subsea, Global Marine, Osbit, EDF Energy and TEXO Group.
Councillor Richard Wearmouth, chair of Energy Central steering group and chair of Advance Northumberland, said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement to provide funding to further develop port-side manufacturing hubs has been gratefully received.
“It’s encouraging to see more funding being made available to support the offshore wind sector and Energy Central’s submission, if successful, will help us to further strengthen and accelerate our offering to the renewable energy industry.”