The North East England energy consortium has promised to press ahead with plans to prioritise investment and research in renewable energy. The promise by One NorthEast chairman Margaret Fay came after the region lost its bid to become the administrative hub of a new Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). The winning bid was awarded to a Midlands Consortium from the universities of Birmingham, Loughborough and Nottingham and with financial backing from both Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development Agency submission (See page 4 for details). The energy sector is currently estimated to be worth around £900m to the North eEst , and positioning the region as the energy capital of the UK. It is also one of the most productive sectors in the region, employing around 30,000 people. Already more than £6bn is currently being invested in novel energy projects in the region over the next few years. One NorthEast has invested over £100m in recent years and public sector investment will continue and the regional development agency has committed a further £100m of public funds to energy research and development over the next five years. The North East England consortium is a partnership between Newcastle, Durham and Northumbria universities, together with the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and One NorthEast. One NorthEast chairman Margaret Fay said:“We are determined to maintain the energy that the bidding process itself has generated and build on the tremendous opportunities that are in the pipeline for the renewables sector in the North East, which promise significant new jobs and investment. “One NorthEast and our partners identified the energy sector as one of three key areas for development over the next 20 years, with the potential to generate around £2bn for new economic growth for the region's economy - that potential remains,. “Our involvement in the Energy Technologies Institute bidding process has certainly put us in a far stronger position to achieve our aims. “We should remember that we got down to the final two bids - beating off competition from institutions like Oxford and Cambridge universities - all of Scotland and Wales which is a tremendous achievement,”she stressed. Prof. Paul Younger, who was co-ordinator of the North East's ETI bid, said: “The North East ETI consortium is extremely disappointed that we have been unsuccessful in our bid to host the ETI facility. “In our view, the decision represents a missed opportunity to make the ETI project an immediate success. “We passionately believe that our offer was the best, in terms of having the capacity to deliver the required outputs, facilities and expertise required by Government and industry.” The North East's bid was backed by a range of international industrial and academic figureheads, and Prof. Younger said: “The support we have received from industry and academia across the world has been overwhelming and uplifting Our joint efforts have demonstrated our unrivalled strengths and we will build on these. “We will advance our collaborative approach to new and renewable energy research and exploitation, and look forward to welcoming other businesses that share our vision. “We also anticipate that key elements of the ETI project will eventually find a home in the North East.” The North East bid also had the formal support of regional development agency One NorthEast and regional minister Nick Brown. Mr Brown has promised to examine the decision on the ETI and said: “The North East bid looked very strong to me. “Of course there are still opportunities for our region to be involved and I will make sure that those are fully explored as well.”