ONE of the region's five centres of excellence is planning to double its workforce over the next two years, it was revealed last night.

The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), which is based at the Wilton International site in Teesside, plans to increase its workforce to about 50 from 25.

The CPI's flagship fuel cell facility is recruiting seven members of high-calibre staff to join the team.

CPI is driving the growth of a fuel cell industry in the North-East, and hydrogen, one of the main cell fuels, is a by-product of two of the Tees Valley's manufacturing plants.

Fuel cells offer the potential for clean and efficient generation of power and it is hoped that CPI will develop a fuel cell industry cluster.

Graham Hillier, director of fuel cell applications at CPI, said: "We have a highly skilled and knowledgeable Process Industry workforce and a sound industry infrastructure, making us the primary location for a fuel cell cluster.

"CPI has made excellent strides forward in this area already. Now we need more high-quality technical and business development people to continue the work we're doing, which offers excellent potential for the North-East and the whole processing industry on a national and international scale."

CPI is one of five centres of excellence established as part of One NorthEast's strategy for success to build on the region's knowledge base in the process industries.