Energy and Environmental Technology

The Northwest boasts unrivalled strengths in the energy and environmental technology sectors.

Our state-of-the-art research facilities, market-leading companies and highly-skilled workforce all contribute to the region's expertise in the field. It is expertise that has earned us a global reputation for technological and commercial excellence - and which makes the Northwest an ideal investment location.

Energy
The energy sector plays a major role in the economic vitality of the Northwest. It employs more than 50,000 people, contributes around £5 billion to the balance sheet and exports goods and services worth approximately £1.2 billion.

Shell's refinery at Stanlow, near Chester, is one of only nine in the country. It has a refining capacity of 12 million tonnes and is a key supplier to local industrial, commercial and transport customers. Down the road in Warrington is United Utilities, a multi-utility business which employs over 17,000 people and generates revenue of £2.4 billion across Europe, the Philippines, USA, Canada and Australia.

The Northwest is a world leader in nuclear energy, encompassing the entire support infrastructure for the UK's civil nuclear sector. Uniquely, this includes all the stages of the nuclear fuel cycle - from enrichment to fabrication and reprocessing. Around 23,000 people are employed in the field - about half the total employment of the country's nuclear sector.

Sellafield is the largest nuclear site in the UK with 12,000 employees and an annual spend of approximately £1 billion. Other important players include the Springfields Fuels fuel fabrication facility near Preston and the BNFL Group, comprising British Nuclear Group (BNG), Nexia Solutions and Westinghouse. In addition, approximately 300 local companies form part of the national nuclear supply chain.

Environmental Technologies
England's Northwest has an estimated 1,500 companies working in the environmental technologies and services sector. These companies provide jobs for over 53,000 people and produce an annual turnover of more than £2.8 billion.

We have an impressive base of air pollution control companies, strong capabilities in waste management, recycling and recovery and a track record of innovative work in wind energy (both onshore and offshore) and photovoltaics.

In terms of research and development, several of the UK's leading research centres are based here. These include the Environmental Centre at Lancaster University, the largest of its kind in the UK, and the Joule Centre for Energy Research at Manchester University. One of the UK's leading centres for the development of sustainable energy technologies, the Joule Centre is pioneering low-carbon technologies, including wave, tidal and micro-hydro systems.