Hopes dashed for green energy research centre

A £50m Offshore Renewable Energy “Catapult”, which will develop technologies to cut the cost of offshore wind, wave and tidal power, will be based in Scotland and the North East.

But academics insist the Hull region, which is due to host a Siemens wind turbine manufacturing centre, will continue to become a powerful green energy centre despite the University of Hull missing out on its bid to be a leading part of the scheme.

They hope the area will still be involved in some of the projects which the Catapult centre, previously known as a Technology and Innovation Centre, will run around the UK.

Professor Stephanie Haywood, director of the Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability at the University of Hull, said: “It’s just part of the picture. There’s a lot of other things happening irrespective of where the Catapult is.

“The centre of gravity is going to move in this direction anyway because there’s going to be such a lot of activity here because of the geography.

“Inevitably a lot of Siemens’ major supply chain will want to have some kind of operation here and I think we’re well placed to help them grow and develop their businesses.”

Hull had made it onto a long list of possible bases for the centre, but was not on a shortlist.

Business Secretary Vince Cable announced yesterday it will be headquartered at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow with a second base at the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in the North East.

The centre aims to bridge the gap between university research and commercialisation, helping to reduce the cost of developing offshore energy technology. It will also be expected to build strong links with centres of excellence around the UK, which is where the Humber could benefit,

Mr Cable said: “Our offshore renewable sector can compete on a global scale and has huge potential for growth. If we can harness that we will generate billions of pounds for the economy whilst creating thousands of job opportunities at the same time.”

The Government is investing in a network of Catapult centres across different sectors. The first, for high value manufacturing, is based at several locations including South Yorkshire.