Northumberland safeguards Energy Central Institute funding

The council has unanimously voted to reallocate money intended for a hotel in Blyth to ensure construction can proceed, following a £5m rise in costs since the project was signed-off last year.

Located in Blyth, the Energy Central Institute forms the second phase of the Energy Central Campus, a key part of the town’s £95m Energising Blyth investment plan.

Phase one, the Energy Central Hub at the Port of Blyth, was completed in 2024 and opened last year. It will provide higher-level education to support growth in the town’s clean energy sector.

The ECI was approved by Northumberland Council last year with a budget of around £19.1m, including build costs of £11m.

Now, costs have risen to an estimated £24.9m, with the increase attributed to higher-than-estimated tender returns and inflation.

At a cabinet meeting this week, the council voted to reallocate money that had been set aside from a Future High Street grant that was intended to fund a hotel, following a lack of interest from interested operators.

The ECI higher-level skills and innovation facility will be built on the site of the former Keel Row Shopping Centre, which the council acquired amid dwindling footfall. Demolition of the shopping centre began last September.

The institute will include a flexible theatre space, research labs, offices, a double-height atrium, and a café, with an emphasis on collaborative areas, and it is hoped construction can get underway in June.

WSP is the project manager on the scheme, and will act as quantity surveyor, principal designer, and civil engineer, while the wider project team includes GSS Architecture, DPP on planning, and Colour as landscape architect.

Energy Central Campus is a flagship project for Energy Central, a partnership between Northumberland Council, its development arm Advance Northumberland, the Port of Blyth, and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s nearby research facility.