The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) and Advance Northumberland have joined forces to develop a new offshore turbine test facility in Blyth, north-east England.

The new R&D centre will be located on a brownfield site to the north of the former Blyth power station, in the parish of East Bedlington.

It will be designed to host one large prototype turbine for testing at a time.
A planning application for the site is being prepared for submission this autumn and the first turbine could be installed for testing in 2022.

The site will be managed from OREC’s National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth.

“This is a development that would put south-east Northumberland well and truly on the map as an international leader in bringing to market next-generation offshore wind turbine technology,” said OREC test facilities director Tony Quinn.

“A prototype site builds on the unique cluster of offshore renewable energy expertise, innovation and skills already present … making us an even stronger proposition to attract overseas investment to the north-east and further support the UK’s world-leading status in offshore wind.”

OREC and Advance Northumberland are seeking feedback on the proposed wind turbine test facility until 21 September.

“This is a major project which would keep this part of our county at the cutting edge of renewable technology and pave the way for hundreds of new jobs,” said Advance Northumberland chair Richard Wearmouth.

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership is supporting design work for the test centre.

“This project will be at the cutting edge of testing and validating the next generation wind turbine technology and will further validate the vital global role our region holds in the offshore wind sector and in energy innovation and demonstration,” said North East LEP energy lead Andrew Clark.