Project hopes to create thousands of new jobs

Jul 2 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

A PROJECT hoped to create thousands of jobs in the North East by leading the development of revolutionary electronics technology has been given a big funding boost.

The Government yesterday unveiled an £8.4m investment in plastics electronics, much of which will come to the Printable Electronics Technology Centre (Petec) near Sedgefield in County Durham.

The centre, which opened last year with £20m of Government cash, is hoped to create 250 jobs here and 1,500 nationally and more as the fledgling industries grow.

Its research has been hailed as the biggest advance in commercial technology since the microchip and will allow the manufacture of flexible lights, displays and solar panels on paper-thin plastic sheets. It will supply a market expected to be worth £80bn by 2020.

David Willetts, minister for universities and science, said the money was going to 13 companies, most of which work with Petec and one of which is the Topdrawer Project to make super-efficient LEDs and which is based at Petec.

Mr Willetts said: “It is early days for this emerging field, but Plastic Electronics will give rise to a range of new, exciting products, such as ultra-efficient lighting and cheaper, longer-lasting solar cells.

“Looking ahead, this technology offers enormous potential to help our local environment, improve our everyday standard of living and support the nation’s economy.

“The funding I’ve announced today is important in supporting UK businesses to be world leaders in one of the key industries of the future. Commercially exploiting the outputs of the UK’s world-leading science and research base has a vital role to play in helping our economy to grow.”

The funding will be shared between 13 businesses. Eight companies have been awarded a total of £7.4m to help build the supply chain and overcome barriers businesses face in taking new and innovative products to market.