Based on the Newcastle Helix site, Connected Energy is accelerating new approaches to grid-load management with it’s British designed battery storage systems and energy optimisation expertise. A variety of local businesses are developing products and services related to energy flexibility and storage, including Equiwatt, Hyperdrive, and Connected Energy. 

Battery technology investor, Britishvolt, has acquired exclusive rights to a site in Blyth, Northumberland, with construction starting in 2021. The company says world-class lithium-ion batteries will be in production by the end of 2023 in its £2.6 billion site, the largest industrial investment in the North East since Nissan’s arrival in 1984 and one of the largest-ever industrial investments in the UK. By the final phase of the project in 2027, the site will aim to employ up to 3,000 highly skilled people, producing over 300,000 lithium-ion batteries for the UK automotive industry. It will provide up to 5,000 jobs in the wider supply chain as well. 

A UK gigafactory is widely regarded as being strategically important for the UK automotive industry for it to maintain competitive advantage as the country accelerates towards an increasingly electrified future.

The gigafactory will be built on a 95-hectare site, formerly the site of the Blyth Power Station. It will use renewable energy, including the potential to use hydro-electric power generated in Norway and transmitted 447 miles under the North Sea via the world’s longest inter-connector from the North Sea Link project. 

The North East LEP area has also made advances in district energy plans and schemes, mine energy and geothermal heat, demand-side response schemes (DSR), and other renewables. 

R&D capability includes:

• The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the Emerson Cavitation Tunnel based at the Port of Blyth
• The National Centre for Subsea and Offshore Engineering
• Pipeline test facilities at Northern Gas Networks test facility, DNV GL, and Smart Grid Laboratory
• Hyperbaric testing and research at Tyne Subsea
• The National Centre for Energy Systems Integration (CESI) at Newcastle University
• Supergen Energy Networks Hub at Newcastle Universit
• Integrated Transport, Electricity and Gas Research Laboratory (InTEGReL) in Gateshead
• Durham Energy Institute at Durham University
• The Smart Grid Lab at Newcastle Helix.  

The North East LEP area has a strong and diverse university sector, with over 85,000 students studying at four regional universities. In 2018/19 there were 31,475 enrolments in the four universities in the North East LEP area. Other subjects that are a particular specialism by one or two of the universities include Engineering and technology (Newcastle). 

It has been a priority of the North East LEP to increase the enrolment in STEM qualifications. Overall, the change in total graduates between 2014/15 and 2018/19 and who studied a STEM related subject has been roughly in line with the UK average at around 10%. However, some subjects have experienced a much faster increase in graduates, most notably in computer science, where the number of graduates increased by over 40% in the space of four academic years, compared to 19% in the UK as a whole.  

Over 85,000 students study at four universities in the North East LEP area.

In terms of higher education specialisms: 

• The University of Newcastle teaching includes degree apprenticeships in power engineering, range of undergrad engineering degrees, masters courses incl. Offshore Engineering and Renewable Energy. Furthermore, it is a global principal partner with Siemens, and has strong relationships with many firms including Tyne Subsea, BEL Valves, Reece Group and Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD). 

• Northumbria University is ranked in the top 300 for engineering and technology in the Times Higher Education’s World University subject rankings 2018, Northumbria University offers courses in Electrical Power Engineering (MSc), Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies (MSc), and has an expanding degree apprenticeship programme. It has established links with major energy companies in the region, delivering a bespoke master’s course for a global oil economy. 

• Durham University Energy Institute is one of the key national research centres for renewable energy. There is an emphasis on science and society that provides Durham with a unique socio-technical approach to energy research and teaching. Durham offers a series of related masters courses along with a Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy, offering significant interaction with both local and international companies 

Furthermore, the Witty Review identified North East Univeristies in the top 20 for research publiciations for 11 subjects: Advanced materials and nano-technology (Durham, 16th); Energy storage (Newcastle, 7th; Durham, 9th); Offshore wind (Northumbria, 19th; Durham 3rd) and Oil and gas (Durham 11th; Newcastle 7th). 

Looking at the research funding awarded between 2007 and 2017 to North East based organisations, the subject areas that secured the most funding from the UK Research Councils and Innovate UK included: Energy (with 79 projects securing £46.2 million). 

There are nine Further Education colleges, providing technical education and further learning opportunities. These colleges are brought together through the North East LEP area College Hub, which has a broad remit to support the implementation and achievement of the Gatsby Good Career Guidance Benchmarks, as well as the brokering of strategic employer partnerships with further education institutions. According to the Local Skills Report from the North East LEP, a recent survey of FE colleges recorded a strength in engineering and manufacturing technology subject areas, specifically:  

• Based on the North bank of the Tyne, the Newcastle College Energy Academy provides a centre of innovation, training and development for the energy sector. The academy delivers qualifications from level two through to degree level in energy technologies, manufacturing and maintenance, as well as apprenticeships. Courses include a level two and three in Welding and Fabrication, level three in Renewable and Subsea Engineering, and Foundation degrees (FdEng) in Renewable Energy Technology and Subsea Engineering. The Energy Academy has successfully developed a Maintenance and Operation Engineering Technician apprenticeship for the wind energy and subsea sectors. 

• Zero Carbon Futures, a subsidiary of Gateshead College, was set up in 2011 as an independent consultancy specialising in low carbon vehicle technologies. The company develops electric vehicle infrastructure, and has managed a range of projects to increase electric vehicle uptake. Its ultimate aim is to research and develop new and emerging technologies, as low carbon vehicles move into the mainstream and become a major part of our transport system. 

The North East LEP area has significant capabilities in engineering, marine and subsea technologies making the area a global hub for energy and environmental technologies. Particular areas of expertise include subsea engineering, robotics, planning and development and the design and fabrication of components including pipelines, umbilical’s and wind turbine foundations. The universities of Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria all have globally recognised research assets in this sector as well and have supported the development of skills in this area. 

Key sites and assets include: leading offshore energy support base in Port of Blyth, along with other UK East Coast centres in Teesside (GE) and Humber (Siemens); 7 EZ sites around North Bank of the Tyne, and Port of Blyth; 7km of quay next to deep water; 400ha of key riverside development; Northern Powergrid electricity distribution network and Northern Gas Networks infrastructure.  

District energy: The North East has a number of existing district heating schemes including; the Freeman Hospital, North Tyneside General Hospital, The Royal Victoria Infirmary, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Riverside Dene high-rise Newcastle, The Rise new build housing scheme Newcastle, Newcastle University, the Gateshead Energy Centre. Studies undertaken by the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) estimate that the North East is home to around 9% of UK heat networks. However, adjusted for economic activity (heat capacity per £m GVA), the North East is second only to the North West and London. Across the North East a significant number of new heat network feasibility studies have been undertaken. The results show huge potential for new schemes to be deployed, as well as for extension of existing schemes. This feasibility work has largely been led by local authorities, with many studies capitalising on BEIS funding via the Heat Network Delivery Unit (HNDU). This aggregated pipeline of schemes, across both the North East LEP and Tees Valley Combined Authority areas, comprises 23 potential schemes with a total estimated value of over £280 million. Schemes vary in terms of progress, between pre-feasibility and planned network extensions. 

Mine energy and geothermal heat: The North East has a particularly rich geothermal potential, with both deep and shallow resources. This includes radiothermal granites in the North Pennines, and flooded mineshafts in abandoned coalfields particularly in Durham and Northumberland. Mine energy heat schemes have also already been deployed in the North East, with two existing projects; at Lanchester Wines and Dawdon Colliery. Wider geothermal schemes have also been explored to various stages, including the Eastgate Borehole. This research well was the first deep geothermal exploration to be drilled in the UK for over 20 years when it was drilled in 2004. More recently 

Large-scale renewables: The North East has a track record of delivering renewable energy capacity, capitalising on available natural resources, supportive planning regimes, and local supply chain capacity and skills. A number of Local Authority areas within the region are in the top 50 for renewable energy, across 406 UK authorities. Most notably, Northumberland generates the most renewable electricity from hydro, and second most from onshore wind, of any English Local Authority area. County Durham is also in the top six English Local Authority areas for onshore wind generation. The North East generates a significantly greater proportion of renewable electricity from onshore wind than the UK average.  

Demand-side response (DSR) schemes: incentivise users to change the profile of their consumption, and energy storage technologies which allow surplus energy to be stored and sold when its needed. Organisations in the North East are already exploring these emerging solutions, for example several utility-scale energy storage and demand side response schemes are in place, including: A 25MW lithium-ion battery close to the Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside, developed by Element Power and since acquired by Enel; A 35MW battery at Port of Tyne, developed by Renewable Energy Systems, and since acquired by Foresight Group; A 3MW battery which is part of the Gateshead Energy Centre, developed by Gateshead Borough Council. 

Other renewables: County Durham, Northumberland and Sunderland are all in the top six UK Local Authority areas for solar PV sites. The region also produces a greater proportion of renewable electricity from landfill gas and anaerobic digestion than the UK average, including through advanced anaerobic digestion processes pioneered by Northumbrian Water at its Howden site. Overall Northumberland generates almost 40% the amount of its total electricity use from renewable sources. A number of companies are also exploring and developing specific large-scale low carbon energy innovations in the North East. These include the Catfoss-owned ‘Graphite Resources’ energy from waste facility in Gateshead, which is developing is processes to convert waste into compost like output (CLO), refuse derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF).