SMALL businesses in the region are to benefit from a multi-million pound project to put green technology into social housing.

Regional development agency One North East has released £6m of European funding to support organisations in testing technology, designed to make houses more energy efficient.

It comes as the North-East aims to position itself as a world centre for low carbon expertise.

As part of any proposals put forward, the organisations must be able to show how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the North-East will benefit.

Alex Fowler, energy leadership council-senior specialist at One North East, said: “As part of the scheme any organisation bringing a product forward will have to demonstrate how they are going to support SMEs.”

This could include providing training for people from SMEs to service the equipment or demonstrating how it will protect jobs in smaller companies with similar skill sets.

Mr Fowler said: “A lot of people who will be installing this will be the likes of roofing contractors and it is making sure they have the skills to move into these new areas by increasing the technical knowledge of staff.”

The aim is to ensure that as demand for such technologies expands, the region’s smaller businesses are best placed to take advantage.

Consortiums including housing associations and organisations developing new technology are expected to apply for the funding, which must be fitted in existing social housing.

Mr Fowler said: “Householders in the North-East will benefit from new technology, reduced fuel bills and reduced carbon emissions.”

The £6m funding comes from the North-East’s £300m European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2007-13 programme, managed by One North East, to support innovation and enterprise in the region.

The North-East is currently putting itself at the forefront of green technology.

In June, the region was selected, through the Government’s Technology Strategy Board, to take part in the world’s largest trial testing of the day-to-day viability of electric vehicles, and in July Nissan announced that its European Centre of Excellence for battery manufacturing would sit alongside its car factory in Sunderland, making the region a leading contender to make the electric vehicles.

In the same month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the region would become the UK’s first low carbon economic area for low carbon vehicles.