Powering Leeds with hydrogen – one way report suggests £100bn productivity boost

Powering Leeds with hydrogen, investing £40m to develop the Sheffield Child Health Technology Centre and exploiting Yorkshire’s Medtech expertise are three ways the North can become £100bn more productive, according to a report being launched today.

Powerhouse 2050: The North’s Routemap for Productivity sets out sets out proposals for four areas of Northern excellence which could, with government funding and business support, rival the best countries and regions in the world.

Months of research, workshops and engagement with more than 500 business, universities and interest groups by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) revealed the steps needed to be taken to make the North’s prime capabilities – Advanced Manufacturing & Materials, Energy, Digital and Health Innovation – world-class.

The report calls for:

  • £2bn to replace the entire gas network of Leeds with hydrogen.
  • £60m for the North (of which £20m specifically for Yorkshire and the Humber) to be the first region in the UK to commit fully to industrial digitisation.
  • £100m to reinforce the North as the UK leader in health data by investing in Connected Health Cities harnessing patient data.
  • £1bn to create a new Northern industry in small nuclear reactors, capable of being manufactured at a plant and brought to a site to be built and allowing for better nuclear material security.
  • Investment in global centres of excellence based on existing expertise including the AMRC Lightweighting Centre in Sheffield where a 6,500m2 facility is planned to provide applied research facilities together with existing assets in machining, castings, industry 4.0 and training.

While government funding, much of it as part of the Industrial Strategy Fund, is called for in the report, businesses are also being urged to invest. One major bank has committed £2.2bn to lend to SMEs in 2017.

Andy Koss, CEO of Drax Power, who led the energy engagement research, said: “The North is uniquely placed to deliver the UK’s energy needs. There are huge opportunities for us as a region – not just in terms of potential jobs and the economic benefits, but also the positive environmental impacts associated with decarbonisation.

“In the North we lead the way in existing energy technologies such as bioenergy, offshore wind and nuclear power – all vital in delivering the Government’s Industrial Strategy.”

Professor Juergen Maier, who led the Advanced Manufacturing & Materials research, said: “The digital reindustrialisation of the North of England is an essential part of our economic future to ensure that UK growth benefits the country as a whole.

“As digitalisation becomes central to our society and the future of manufacturing, the UK needs to invest in automation, innovation and science to give our UK industries the boost they need to be globally competitive.”

The Digital theme was led by Stephen Church, Partner at EY. He added: “Enhanced connectivity, such as fibre to the premises broadband or 5G roll-out, and better support for start-ups would be major advances in how we embrace the digital age, but equally important is creating incubators and co-working spaces to suit the needs of a modern workforce.”

Leading the Health Innovation theme was Dr Hakim Yadi, the Chief Executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA). He said: “Health Innovation is key to the economic success and development of the North of England.  The North’s health innovation economy has a huge opportunity in this area to deliver, health and wealth benefits to the region, both through the new Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and the Northern Powerhouse agenda.”

The proposals in the report have been submitted to the government for consideration in the Autumn Budget.

Powerhouse 2050: the North’s Routemap for Productivity will be formerly launched today in Burnley.

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