THE future of a key chemical plant on Teesside and the jobs of its hundreds of workers will be “desperately” at risk if an urgent cash injection is not given by its parent company, it was revealed last night.

Plastic producer Artenius, based on the Wilton site, has said it is awaiting the outcome of a fundraising round by its parent company La Seda de Barcelona to determine its future, but last night admitted it looked bleak without badlyneeded investment.

Mark Kenrick, business director of the Artenius plant, which employs 242 people, last night told The Northern Echo: “No one could say we are not under threat. It is a nervous time, and we desperately need a cash injection from our parent company. We can’t go on like this, with people to pay and a plant to run.

“We have done everything we can from our perspective – now we can only wait to see what happens.”

Meanwhile, up to 350 jobs could be created at Wilton through the development of a new form of low-carbon energy to power generators, continuing the run of recent green breakthroughs.

The research by Diverse Energy will see the world’s first technology that uses ammonia to power fuel cells, in a move which would see the replacement of high-polluting diesel generators with its PowerCube device.

Now, the company pledged that the entire manufacturing and shipping of its Power- Cube, which has been specifically designed for the telecommunications sector, would take place at its Wilton base, which would lead to the creation of 350 jobs once it is fully developed and brought to market.

And it also comes only days after Wilton, formerly owned by ICI, was named as the site of a £12m industrial biotechnology plant, which will pioneer low-carbon forms of energy.

The facility will help under-pressure petrochemical companies diversify into greener forms of energy.

A pilot plant is also being built at Wilton by energy company Zeosol, which is looking to be the world’s main dryer of ethanol and butanol, two of the key biofuels, by removing the water content to make them more pure and effective.

The move comes as the Wilton site, near Redcar, has been under pressure through the closures of the Dow and Croda chemical plants, the recent closure of Elementis in Eaglescliffe, persisting doubts over the future of the North Tees Petroplus refinery and now the mounting threat to Artenius.

Artenius parent company La Seda de Barcelona made a loss of £564m during 2008, and is now looking to restructure the group-wide business to try and generate cash and regain the financial support of its banks, as well as calling on shareholders for backing.

A meeting was held in Spain earlier in the week to look at its options, but no decision has been made yet, although an outcome is expected within the next few days.

Last night, Mr Kenrick confirmed that one component of the plant, its T8 terminal, had been offline since March, and that a cash boost from La Seda de Barcelona to re-start operations was “impossible” given its financial predicament.

Workers have, all the while, been employed on full pay, and voted in favour of no pay increase this year to back their employer during its difficult time.

The other part of Artenius, its PET plant, which makes plastic chips which are used in plastic bottles and containers, is heavily reliant on the neighbouring Dow plant, which is the UK’s only producer of the EO chemical.

Although demand for Artenius’s products remains strong in the present financial climate, and the site continues to perform well, given the plight of La Seda de Barcelona, all future projects and plans at the Teesside site, formerly part of ICI, have been on hold since last month.

Steve Booth, HR director at the site, said that despite the turbulence hitting the plant, its workforce has been “fantastic”, adding: “It has supported us massively, has accepted changes to the pension plan, and voted for a zero percent pay increase this year, and I want to stress it has been fantastic.

“We are representing them in every way we can, and just want them to know we are doing everything possible, but what happens now depends on our parent company.”