CLOSE to Redcar’s collapsed steelworks, a £250m energy plant dominates the Teesside skyline.

The structure, wrapped in green cladding, will turn waste into energy for thousands of homes.

The building is strengthening the region’s business environment, providing new jobs and supporting hundreds of contractors.

But its presence carries a much greater symbolism.

The development, on the Wilton chemical complex, signifies the beginning of a rebuilding process in Teesside’s employment landscape.

It also offers some positivity amid the woes of SSI UK’s failed venture.

Of course, the job numbers are incomparable.

SSI’s liquidation left thousands of steelworkers and supply chain staff redundant, while the £250m energy factory will deliver more than 50 full-time roles.

Operated by Merseyside Energy Recovery (MER), formerly Sita Sembcorp UK, the plant is due to open next year and expected to help power more than 60,000 homes annually by converting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household waste into electricity and steam.

But it is also doing something else.

Among the team needed to operate the site, 37 roles have already been filled.

Within that number, 15 are former SSI workers.

Speaking yesterday (Tuesday, November 24), as their new bosses held an open day to showcase the development, three ex-steel staff revealed their overwhelming relief at finding new employment.

For Sara Dowse, of Dormanstown, near Redcar, the steel sector is in her blood.

Her father and uncle both earned a living on Redcar’s works, and her partner, Ian, was on SSI’s books.

The former planner at SSI’s Sinter plant is now a maintenance planner and will look after the upkeep of the £250m Wilton building.

Pre-empting SSI’s demise, she applied for a role at MER in the spring, and admits the decision carried great emotional attachments.

She said: “I grew up and have lived in Redcar all my life; my father and uncle were at the Redcar works.

“Losing the works is like losing an arm, it’s a massive loss to the area.

“It was good to be part of something that was resurrecting steel on Teesside.

“But the closure was a very sad day, and I feel for those who have been affected.

“You didn’t believe it would happen, you were just pushing and pushing to keep it going.

“My other half worked there and he’s having to come to terms with the loss.

“It got to the point where we said both of us can’t be here if its goes, and it would have been a completely different story if we were both out of work.

“So I applied here when it became apparent SSI was on thin ice.

“I take my hat off to SSI; they tried their best but they couldn’t sustain it.”

Jamie Templeton, from Middlesbrough, will work as a shift manager at MER’s development, having previously been a shift manager at Redcar Power Station.

The 39-year-old said told The Northern Echo he feels privileged to have secured his new role, and backed former colleagues to revive their careers.

The former Corus and Tata Steel worker said: “I’ve got young children and we have just moved into a new house, so this couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I’m lucky because I’m moving into this technology, which is the future.

“We all wanted SSI to work, but unfortunately it didn’t.

“The workers who were there have the skills and ethic ingrained in them, and they have the background employers are looking for.”

Ian Knight, also from Middlesbrough, will be a shift production manager for MER.

The 48-year-old started in the Redcar works’ stores before switching to the power station.

He added: “The biggest thing is job security; my long-term future is secured.

“I’d been there before in 2010 with Tata and SSI came with the best intentions.

“But they struggled to be competitive with the industry conditions and cheap Chinese imports.”