North East England is the centre of the UK’s green energy revolution.
A proud heritage of engineering, mining and shipbuilding has resulted in a thriving skills base, knowledge economy, and numerous development sites in ideal locations, which place the region at the forefront of clean growth sectors of national and international importance.
The North East has a long-established capability in offshore energy, with innovative organisations utilising infrastructure and skills that once served the shipyards to now service various aspects of the global offshore renewables and oil and gas sectors.
The region has a worldwide reputation for subsea and offshore technology, pipeline and trenching services, topside and subsea fabrication and decommissioning work, and offshore wind capabilities. Its expertise in the design, engineering and manufacture of subsea technologies has made it a leading global subsea technology cluster.
Global companies such as Technip FMC, Baker Hughes, Bel Valves, SMD, Royal IHC, Siemens, JDR Cables, Smulders Projects and Osbit all have operations in the region.
Our region has a fantastic array of world-class research and development and testing facilities which are developing technologies and solutions across the energy system, including the National Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Testing facility and Tyne Pressure Testing, which both support the growing energy sector and the businesses located here.
North East England offers outstanding access to global markets, making it the perfect location for energy companies to grow. We are connected to the rest of the world by the Ports of Blyth, Sunderland and Tyne and have an international airport and an exceptional national rail network, allowing workforce movement throughout the UK and beyond.
The region is also recognised as a UK hub of underwater supply chain expertise for sectors across the wider blue economy within a Global Underwater Hub in the region to enhance networks and cluster development.
A superb portfolio of high-quality industrial properties and development sites offers energy companies of all sizes a range of property options. Many sites provide easy access to deep water ports and the North East Investment Zone brings a range of incentives to locate here. There are numerous office locations in city centres or out-of-town office parks to support engineering, design and operations functions.
Our highly skilled workforce is renowned for its exceptional productivity and loyalty. We employ nearly 57,000 advanced manufacturing engineering workers out of a total of 110,000 workers in the wider manufacturing sector. Over 124,000 students study at our five outstanding universities, with more than 54,000 studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects.
Offshore wind
North East England is a global leader in offshore renewables and the sector continues to grow and attract new businesses.
The region is around 140km from the UK’s largest planned offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, making it a perfect location for offshore wind manufacturers and component supply chain to take advantage of the opportunities in this market.
Many companies are already doing that. Equinor and SSE Renewables have opened their operations and maintenance (O&M) base at Port of Tyne, South Shields, to support the work at Dogger Bank while JDR Cables are building a new subsea cable manufacturing facility at Blyth.
Heat networks
Heat networks form an important part of the UK’s plan to reduce carbon and cut heating bills for domestic and commercial customers. The £320 million Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) will provide a total of £125 million to support projects in the North East.
North East heat network schemes include some of the most pioneering in the UK, incorporating low carbon heat sources such as mine energy, and represent part of a substantial regional project pipeline.
Companies located in the region can take advantage of the skills, world-leading research, collaborative networks and access to a growing pipeline of projects both nationally and internationally.
Helping your move to North East England
To support a smooth transition to the region, Invest North East England can provide a range of services, including property searches, data on skills and guidance on incentives, as well as making introductions to specialist networks that can offer guidance and links to potential customers, opportunities and R&D support.
