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£100m boost for region’s green credentials

A bumper month for the region’s aspirations to become a hub for green energy has been rounded off with news of a £100m project which could create hundreds of jobs.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson and energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe.

The agreement signals Mitsubishi’s intention to invest up to £100m in a UK wind turbine research and development project, with sites in the North East being considered.

It is estimated that around 200 highly skilled jobs will be created by the project by 2014.

Meanwhile the Government has also announced that £18.5m will be invested in developing an offshore wind test site off the coast near the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Blyth.

It will act as a technology demonstration and development platform for the next generation of large multi-megawatt offshore wind turbines.

It also complements Government support for a blade test facility in the North East that will enable the

The MOU comes days after Clipper Windpower finally confirmed its plans for a factory in the North East and vowed to invest in a testing facility at Walker, on the banks of the Tyne.

Each of Windpower’s “Britannia” turbines would be able to generate up to 10MW of electricity, enough for 10,000 homes. If the blades work properly, Clipper will make up to 75 of them a year, employing up to 500 people by 2020.

In a further boost to the region’s green credentials, almost £8m in public funding was this week set aside to roll-out electric vehicle charging points across North East.

The investment, which comes via regional development agency One North East and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) will fund the installation of 1,300 charging points in the region over the next three years.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .