10:17am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Owen McAteer
A MULTI-MILLION pound training centre for the car industry workers of the future could play an important part in helping the North-East win the contract for Nissan’s new electric vehicle.
One of the main roles of the £8.4m national Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation, announced yesterday, will be delivering training for the low-carbon vehicle industry.
Trevor Mann, Nissan’s senior vice-president for manufacturing in Europe, hinted that the centre could play an important role in ensuring the Sunderland plant wins the Leaf.
He said: “It provides more evidence of the region’s commitment to a low-carbon future and further supports Sunderland plant’s ongoing efforts to produce zero emission cars in the future.”
Hopes are high that Sunderland will be awarded European production of the vehicle after it was chosen as the location for the company’s electric car battery plant.
The academy, first proposed last year when the Government designated the North-East as the UK’s first Low-Carbon Economic Area specialising in ultra-low carbon vehicles, will be run by Gateshead College at a site adjacent to the Nissan plant.
It is a joint project involving the college, the Learning and Skills Council, Nissan and regional development agency One North East.
It will train students from the age of 14 upwards in manufacturing and maintenance of low-carbon vehicles.
Last year, the region was selected to take part in the world’s largest trial testing of the day-today viability of electric vehicles.
The North-East is rolling out 1,300 charging points after being named as one of three “Plugged-In Places” across the country.
Business Minister Ian Lucas yesterday visited Gateshead to meet students who will benefit from the training centre.
He also stressed that, with the North-East positioning itself as an international hub for low-carbon expertise, including wind power, the new centre will also provide training in those areas.
He said: “It is broader than that, because of the massive opportunity with low-carbon technology.
All of these new developments require training.
Dr Colin Herron, manufacturing and productivity manager for One North East, said the North- East was now at the forefront of the low-carbon economy.
He said: “As I have been going around Europe, no one has got a wind turbine centre such as Narec, in Northumberland, an economic area for low-carbon vehicles or a place like Teesside that produces hydrogen, that could be used in low-carbon vehicles, all within 60 miles. We could have the complete package in the North- East.”
During his visit, Mr Lucas also switched on a solar-powered electric vehicle charging canopy at Gateshead Civic Centre, developed by Romag, of Consett, County Durham.
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