THE man in charge of renewable energy in the Tees Valley region seized the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a hydrogen-powered vehicle in China.

Dermot Roddy, Renew Tees Valley chief executive, is pictured, left, in the vehicle while taking part in a mission organised by One NorthEast, the regional development agency.

A highlight of the mission, designed to strengthen links between China and the region in developing business opportunities and technology collaboration programmes, was a visit to the Shen-Li High Tech Company in Shanghai, which has developed a range of vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells.

Mr Roddy said the whole visit was fascinating. "The country has a billion people and is already the biggest manufacturing base and the third largest trading power in the world. There are tremendous opportunities both for UK companies to do business and for the development of collaboration over a wide range of fields, including renewable energy and hydrogen economy, where we have a particular interest in the Tees Valley."

The visit included a high-tech forum in Beijing and a series of visits and meetings in Jiangsu and Shanghai on developing technology collaboration.

The collaboration involves local centres of excellence such as the New and Renewable Energy Centre and the Centre for Process Innovation, regional universities and local companies.

"It is clear the Chinese are interested in making the most of virtually every type of renewable energy technology," said Mr Roddy. "In Jiangsu they are working on solar and wind power, and biomass power plants similar to that developed by SembCorp at Wilton.

"In Shanghai we were able to see the work of the University of Electric Power and the Shen-Li High Tech Company, which has an impressive record of developing fuel cells for various transport projects.

"I had the opportunity of trying out some of the vehicles myself and, interestingly, the fuel cells which power their vehicles are very similar to the system we now have in operation powering the information sign at the Transporter bridge.

"What is clear from this mission is that China will play a central role in leading the renewable energy revolution and that there are tremendous potential benefits for the Tees Valley in developing the relationships established during our visit."