Ed Miliband says the Humber shows net zero is 'economic opportunity of 21st century'

Mr Miliband looked on in awe at the 108-metre blades, which tower over the company’s Alexandra Dock base.

The Energy Secretary took part in a roundtable on skills yesterday, with representatives from Future Humber, Hull College and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

Mr Miliband is the latest senior Government figure to visit the estuary in recent weeks, with both the Prime Minister and Chancellor also making major announcements from the region.

He said: “We think net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century.

“I think you are proving it here at Siemens, and what you are doing is brilliant.

“My focus is on how do we go further, faster and create more of these opportunities.”

Margaret Pinder, Labour’s Hull and East Yorkshire candidate told the roundtable this was the estuary’s “Silicon Valley moment”.

The German firm, which hosted the event, is taking on 30 apprentices from the Humber region.

Siemens Gamesa head of UK Darren Davidson told The Yorkshire Post: “We see growth in all of our factories, in all of our resources in the UK - we’ve got a really strong pipeline ahead.

“We are trying to be ambitious to say to support the clean energy mission - what do we need to do?

“What we need to see is a bit more surety on the plan, visibility and predictability - that predictability will be able to see us growing our sites, with a bit of government support hopefully too.”

It comes as Mr Miliband announced a fresh £10m fund for metro mayors to bid for clean energy projects.

Hull and East Yorkshire will become the final part of the region to get a mayor when voters go to the polls on May 1.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Project, praised this fund, but also urged Mr Miliband to push ahead with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the Humber.

“It is great to see Ed Miliband back on the Humber for the roundtable to discuss the vital role clean energy can play in boosting regional growth and supporting the transition to net zero on the energy estuary,” he said.

“We welcome the steps being announced today – including the GB Energy partnership with both metro mayors and with local authorities.

“Our ‘Net Zero by 2050’ report showed how CCUS could unlock £15bn in private investment in the Humber alone – dealing with the most carbon-intensive cluster in the North – if we get the right mix of investment and policy support in place.

“I hope Ed Miliband will be back after the elections to meet with both the newly elected metro mayors to discuss government support and local investment.”