LEADING figures in the North-East renewable energy sector are remaining upbeat, in spite of the announcement that Teesside had missed out on a potential 700 jobs boost.

German energy firm Siemens has chosen to build its new £80m wind turbine plant in Hull rather than the North-East, a move that could generate up to 10,000 jobs across the supply chain on Humberside.

This week, it was revealed that Hull had overtaken Middlesbrough at the top of Britain’s unemployment league table.

A critical factor in securing the agreement has been Hull’s close proximity to three offshore wind farms being constructed in the North Sea.

David Robinson, group chief executive of the port of Hartlepool and Teesport owners PD Ports, said the move demonstrated the underlying strength of the sector, and that he was optimistic this region was well-placed to secure future deals.

“It’s a huge investment, but Hartlepool will be best positioned to service a number of projects, not just one big company,”

said Mr Robinson.

“The scale they want Hull to deliver on would be difficult to achieve on Teesside.

“We want a wider relationship with the market, not just with one particular player.

“The offshore wind sector is huge. This is just one relationship.

“It’s one we would have liked to win, but there’s a lot more to go at.”

Mick Thurlbeck, chief executive of the Tees Valley Engineering Partnership, said: “Siemens were the first to put their hat in the ring and it’s good for the sector to see this project off the ground, but we need to ask what do we need to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

North-East firms have joined forces under the Chain Reaction initiative, which will create a globally-recognised centre of renewable energy excellence in the region.

Teesside is in pole position to serve the largest project, located on Dogger Bank, as the Government develops a £75bn programme for nine offshore wind farm zones.

Following the announcement of the Siemens deal, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “This announcement is a real vote of confidence in the future of offshore wind energy.”

Dr Cable added that the development of green technologies represented a major growth opportunity for the UK’s advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors.

Statistics released this week by the European Wind Energy Association showed that Britain had moved to the world’s leading position in installed offshore wind capacity, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands.