Businesses urged not to miss out on huge opportunities in renewable energy industry

BUSINESSES across East Yorkshire and the Humber have been urged to be aware of the wide diversity of supply chain opportunities in a variety of green energy areas.

A large amount of focus has been placed on Green Port Hull but according to energy industry experts, businesses should not be distracted by this and miss the chance of securing work in other green areas, which are seeing huge growth.

A number of experts highlighted these areas in the renewable energy industry at the Plan B event in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, emphasising the renewables activity already happening in the region.

ABP Humber commercial manager, Justin Atkin, emphasised the opportunities surrounding its recent deal with Drax – a 15-year contract with Drax Power to handle biomass shipments destined for Drax Power Station at Selby. ABP will invest about £70m in the ports of Immingham and Grimsby, with £30m of investment divided between the ports of Hull and Goole.

He also discussed the Real Ventures £130m power station in Hull, on schedule to open in 2015, earmarked to be Yorkshire’s first purpose-built facility burning biomass to generate electricity, as well as ABP’s plans for a £100m riverside bulk terminal in Hull.

Mr Atkin said: “These are  opportunities for more investment in the port of Hull and projects that could be a reality in the years to come.

“There are also small and large scale opportunities in Liquified Natural Gas – the 2015 legislation will create opportunities for this.”

Vivergo Fuels also highlighted green areas local businesses can get involved in.

Vivergo spent four years building its £350m plant in Hull, and at 25 acres, it is one of the largest biofuel facilities in the world.

This biorefinery aims to produce cleaner transport fuel to provide energy and is based at Saltend Chemical Park in Hull. It has directly contributed more than £60m to the local economy so far.

Product manager at Vivergo Fuels, Mark Batte, emphasised the investment the company has made in the region and spoke about other, less apparent, roles local firms could have with Vivergo.

He said: “There are huge opportunities for the business in IT and when you spend this amount of money on a plant, there will also be ongoing maintenance work.

“The supply chain involves farming and transport, too, and we want to place as much work in the local area as we can.”

Mr Batte told businesses that they must be ready if they want to win contracts with big companies like Vivergo.

He said: “A number of contracts require external accreditations such as ISO14001. Accreditations can be challenging but we want companies to grow together. We want people to invest in us and we want to be a big player in the local economy.”

The Plan B event was organised by Humber business, the Renewables Network, and Hull based, Footprint Renewables.

Sam pick of the Renewables Network said: “There are a large number of projects, so it is vital businesses understand the requirements.

“The event was very strong and well attended and gave businesses the chance to look at the full range of renewable technologies.”