Jobs created in renewable energy

Sep 30 2009 By The Journal

FIFTEEN new jobs are being created at a North East renewable energy centre.

The New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), announced plans to expand its offshore renewables team and create 15 new professional positions at its headquarters in Blyth, Northumberland.

The new vacancies include opportunities for program managers, engineers, commercial managers and an oceanographer. 

A spokesman for Narec said: "Experienced candidates are required to support our proposals for the expansion of testing and technology development infrastructure, designed to increase meet the growing needs of the offshore wind and marine renewable sectors."

Stephen Wilson, director of Wind and Marine at Narec, said: "There are no comparable testing facilities anywhere in the world.  The UK is already a focus for the development and testing of marine energy devices and this open access facility will allow developers to test and improve the reliability of their devices throughout the development process, from medium scale prototypes through to full-scale commercial devices; and at significantly lower cost and risk in comparison to sea testing."

Ian Williams, Director of Business and Industry at One North East, said: "We are delighted with the progress being made at the New and Renewable Energy Centre and extremely proud of its work to date.

"As a result the region is well-placed to benefit from the national and international opportunities that are arising in the renewables sector, which is central to One North East’s long-term strategy for major growth and job creation in low carbon industries."