AN energy business set up three years ago with a £10,000 grant is looking to reach a turnover of £110m in the next year.

Clean Energy Capital (CEC) was set up in 2007 by Northumbria University graduate Sean O’Connor and has since secured tens of millions of pounds of investment, despite the recession, for the research and development of green projects in the UK, Latin America, the Middle East and the US.

That arm of the business is currently turning over £2m a week, and substantial growth is predicted for this year, to take the company’s turnover to £110m.

The company, based in Sunderland, employs six people, and last year expanded into London and Leeds, taking on another five people.

CEC has already worked on major projects around the world, including a development to significantly increase the scale on which water can be desalinated, and the latest technology on the conversion of waste into energy avoiding landfill.

A major initiative is also now ready to construct eco towns with homes that create their own energy supply, as well as biofuel farms using high-yield crops grown locally combined with additives to create car-ready fuel for supply direct to forecourts.

Mr O’Connor, 29, said: “Green projects need development funding. In a time where it is becoming critical for the planet, coupled with the worst recession for generations, this funding is hard to achieve.

“We have provided a service for a select group of high networth and institutional clients who wish to own part of the best commercial opportunities that exist in the green space.

“Building on CEC’s group annualised profits in 2009 of £1.2m, this emerging area for the business is turning over £2m a week currently, so we expect trading to grow substantially this year.

“We anticipate a consolidated group turnover of £110m this year and hope to record well in excess of £3m in group profits by capitalising on the growth of the cleantech agenda.”

Mr O’Connor began CEC in 2007, after building up a property portfolio throughout the North-East, amassing 40 units worth more than £5m.

After the property boom showed signs of waning, he researched the potential for green energy, and decided to launch CEC with a £10,000 Business Link grant.

Mr O’Connor believes the business has longevity because of the importance of green energy in the years ahead.

“Much has been made of climate change sceptics, but is it worth the gamble of them being wrong? The wider issue that is often overlooked, but world leaders are well aware of, is that we have finite energy resources, so developing alternative energy sources is to many, a matter of national security,”

he said.

“CEC has already established itself as an expert in this field and years of extensive research and relationship building have enabled us to manoeuvre into position to take advantage of the explosive growth, both in the UK and overseas, that is expected in this sector.”