‘Monumental day’ for Teesside as Government backs £4 billion clean energy factory plans

Teesside is set for a new “golden generation” after Westminster approved a £4 billion energy factory, a regeneration boss has said.

The Government has rubberstamped plans to create the 1000-job Net Zero Teesside carbon capture, utilisation and storage plant at Redcar.

Hailing the decision, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has called the decision a “monumental day”, adding it places Teesside as the “Silicon Valley of net-zero”.

Described as the world’s first industrial-scale factory of its type, officials say the BP and Equinor-led power station will generate up to 860 megawatts of low-carbon electricity – enough to power up to 1.3 million UK homes – while annually capturing as much as two million tonnes of emissions.

Captured CO2 will be moved by the Northern Endurance Partnership via a pipeline to a permanent storage site under the North Sea.

Building work on the factory – which bosses say could add up to £300 million to the economy every year – is expected to begin by the end of 2024, supporting 3000 construction jobs.

The plant is earmarked to begin operations in 2027.

And mayor Houchen says the plant, which is set for Teesworks – the development turning ex-steelwork land into clean energy space that has already attracted South Korean wind turbine monopile maker SeAH – leaves Teesside ready to be “a global player leading the world once again”.

He said: “This is a monumental day for Teesside, my proudest achievement since becoming mayor, and I want to thank the Government for giving the green light to this project.

“It will provide power to homes and help with energy security but, more importantly, it will give generational job opportunities to local people.

“This investment is on a scale not seen on Teesside since ICI; Teesside is no longer seen as an old industrial heartland in decline.

“This is a day we will look back on as the start of a golden generation for Teesside.”