HUNDREDS of jobs have been saved and many more may be brought to the region after a buyer was found for a major Teesside energy company.

Enron Teesside Operations Limited (ETOL) was yesterday bought by Singapore energy company SembCorp Utilities for £83m.

SembCorp's decision to buy ETOL will safeguard all 569 workers at the company.

It is hoped also the announcement will bring new chemical companies to a vacant 400-acre site owned by the company at Wilton, near Redcar.

The new owners yesterday pledged to honour existing contracts and pension rights for ETOL workers for the next three years - an agreement welcomed by Transport and General Workers Union senior regional organiser Mike Brider as "exceptionally good".

Tang Kin Fei, president and chief executive officer of SembCorp, said the calibre of the Teesside workforce had been a key factor in the deal.

"We were very attracted by what we saw at Teesside," he said: "The key success factor in all investment is people."

Vera Baird, MP for Redcar, said: "SembCorp were delighted to find such high quality employees running a top class operation that they could purchase and run as it stood."

SembCorp plans an £18m initial investment towards the building of a new gas turbine and other smaller projects in the new company.

The £83m selling price was a fraction of the £300m paid for the firm by US energy company Enron, which bought the operation from ICI in January 1999.

Enron collapsed in November 2001 after one of the world's worst accountancy scandals - leaving the Teesside plant operating with help from the banks while it tried to find a buyer.

Shedding the Enron name from its title will now help the firm disengage itself from a blighted company. It is likely that a change of ownership will inspire greater interest among companies looking to base themselves on the Wilton International site.

ETOL, now SembCorp Utilities Teesside Limited (SUTL), is the "engine room" of Wilton International, operating the Wilton Power Station and water treatment plant. It provides energy to chemical companies such as Huntsman, DuPont and BP-Amoco.

Paul Gavens, former ETOL boss and new SUTL managing director, said: "It is a very good day for the people in this business and a very good day for Teesside industry.