Tees Valley further cemented as UK’s “green capital” after securing global trade expo

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has today welcomed the news that the region will play host to a major Government green trade event this year, further cementing the area as the UK’s “green capital’’.

In the autumn, the region will welcome the Green Trade and Investment Expo, hosted alongside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for International Trade. It will bring together UK businesses and global investors to capitalise on the commercial opportunities as the country continues its drive to net zero.

Teesside is already spearheading the UK’s clean energy ambitions, with “transformative” projects secured in the low carbon and offshore sectors. These include projects such as Circular Fuels’ pioneering £150m waste to gas facility, announced just yesterday, which is coming to the Teesworks site.

Teesworks will also be home to SeAH Wind and its £300m offshore wind monopile manufacturing facility, with work set to begin on-site in a matter of weeks. GE Renewable Energy’s offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing factory is also set to be located at the redeveloped former Redcar steelworks.

Bp, which is leading on Net Zero Teesside, will also establish two large-scale hydrogen production facilities; HyGreen Teesside producing green hydrogen and H2Teesside producing blue, with a combined 1.5GW capacity which could deliver 30 per cent of the Government’s 5GW hydrogen production target by 2030.

Mayor Houchen previously called on the Government to bring the Expo to the region, so would-be investors could see first-hand the scale of opportunity at sites like Teesworks, and those coming thanks to the Teesside Freeport, the UK’s biggest and first to be operational Freeport.

Following the announcement, he said: “I’ve been pushing the Government for a while to make this Expo a reality, so I’m delighted we’ll soon be welcoming national and international investors to the region. This will allow them to see first-hand the innovative schemes in the cleaner, safer and healthier industries of tomorrow.

“This decision proves the Government is sitting up and noticing what we’re doing to not only drive forward the country’s low carbon ambitions but also help set the agenda with many world-first schemes currently in the pipeline.

“On top of that, we’re also playing our part in the future of trade, with the Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation being set up right here too. A laundry list of massive projects and investments have been announced across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool which are going ahead right now, showing that we’re not just talking about it, we’re delivering it.”

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