BURGEONING offshore wind expertise in two areas of the North-East has led to them being named by the Government amongst five prime UK sites in which to grow the sector.

Teesside and Tyneside have both been named as Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering (CORE), which will entitle them to enhanced Government support for securing investment linked to offshore wind.

The CORE projects are partnerships between Whitehall and the Local enterprise partnerships, which includes Tees Valley Unlimited, for Teesside, and the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership, for Tyneside.

The other three areas to benefit are the Humber, Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft and Sheerness in the south-east.

Tees Valley Unlimited's director of business investment, Neil Kenley, said: "We are one of five areas the Government want to work with.

"The Government was keen to identify a number of areas where they will give as much support as they can to the offshore wind sector.

"We are competing against Europe so anything we can do is positive.

"The benefit to Teesside is that we now know we are at the front of the Government's mind.

"With the work that has been done here over the last 24 months we are also at the front of the minds of the big players in the offshore wind sector."

Firms looking to invest in Teesside and Tyneside will already benefit from financial incentives, such as capital allowances, business rate relief and simplified planning, as part of the Government's enterprise zone announcements in August.

In a joint statement Business Minister Mark Prisk and Energy Minister Charles Hendry said: "COREs will build on this offer to ensure that every business looking to invest in offshore wind is supported to do so.

"We are initially focussing on five strategic locations where, together with the local assets necessary to attract investment, local enterprise partnerships are prioritising development of this sector."

The announcemnet was welcomed by North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) chief executive, James Ramsbotham who said: "CORE status is a commitment from the Government to support the growth in offshore manufacturing in the North East.

"This recognition of the engineering skills and ambition we have in the region and enhanced status that a CORE will bring will help both the River Tyne and Tees stand out commercially."

The industry is enjoying massive growth, with nine sites planned under Round Three of the UK's offshore wind development programme in British waters alone and the global market to be worth £1bn.

In October 19 North-East firms involved in the offshore wind sector and led by Durham City-based energy sector support organisation NOF Energy formed their own cluster group, Energi Coast, to put the region at the forefront of the industry.

Members, which will co-operate to promote the region as a natural home for firms in the sector and join forces to secure work.

include Tag Energy Solutions, which recently opened a plant producing turbine foundations in Haverton Hill, Billingham, CTC Marine Projects in Darlington, which installs deepwater cables, JDR Cables in Hartlepool, a world leader in producing turbine cables, and Tata Steel, which announced a £2m investment in its Hartlepool tubemills in October to enable them to provide components to anchor wind turbines to the seabed.