Agenda item

The Chairman has invited representatives from Automotive Transformation to give a presentation introducing the work of the Advanced Propulsion Centre which seeks to make the UK a centre of excellence for the research, development and production of low carbon propulsion technology.  (Presentation enclosed as Appendix B)

Julian Hetherington, Director of Automotive Transformation gave a detailed presentation about the work of the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The presentation detailed the research, development and production of low carbon propulsion technology. It gave information regarding opportunities and challenges that may be faced with producing the technology within the county.

The Deputy Leader thanked the Advance Propulsion Centre and commented on their professionalism and for their feedback on the project over the past 12 months.

Mr. Hetherington responded to questions and comments raised as follows:

·       The supply chain could be encouraged to locate into the county. It was anticipated that as technology and demand changed and evolved companies would be looking to expand. Some materials were already produced in the UK such as electrolytes. If there were advances in low-cost energy and energy prices decreased, it would be advantageous to make high commodity materials in the UK and a number of the materials would lend themselves to being co-located with a battery factory. There were several areas of the supply chain which were desirable and could be advantageous to locate on the same site. Anode and cathode were most desirable to co-locate due to the similarities in production and expansion size with a battery plant.

·       Northumberland would need to support the skills agenda as it was a new industry but could benefit from transferable skills from former industries. A skills development programme would have to be developed with investors for all skills levels. Further land should be made available at a reasonable cost for future expansion and assisting with planning to match the time determined ambition given by investors and continuing with the positive environment already created. Advanced Northumberland and the Local Authority had responded positively and it was encouraging to see a recognition of the national agenda being enacted at a local level. It has been a productive partnership to get to this stage.

·       Certain industries could be at risk as low carbon propulsion technology expands. However, where plants were at risk it was anticipated that many workers in existing industries had transferable skills and could move over to battery plant production with some training. There could be a shift from manufacturing metals to other newer technologies. Battery manufacturing is where most of the replacement jobs from engine manufacturing would come from.

·       Some raw materials cannot be sourced from the United Kingdom due to the geology. There were some raw materials that could be found such as lithium and nickel. There was a heavy reliance on Asia to process materials currently, however there were a number of resources that could be found in the UK. Most of the components that were on the critical supply chain path could be sourced through secure routes in the UK and the wider European area. A plan needed to be laid to illustrate security of supply to future investors. The Government was also keen to make trade deals with other countries that had resources to support the battery production such as Australia.

·       Long distance HGV’s were an interesting challenge as too many batteries were required and too much payload was sacrificed. Different energy vectors were being looked at to overcome these challenges such as fuel cells. Fuel cells may be beneficial in this sector and several companies developing them were already in the UK. There were good opportunities for fuel cell manufacture in UK as there was the demand as well as Government strategy for renewable energy.

·       He could not comment on the department of transport policy regarding incentives to HGV fleets, but the Government were looking at the future of the heavy duty sector moving forward.

·       As it was a new industry, they were a lot of emerging and developing technologies. Fuel cells were beneficial but due to all the components probably would not be used in low-cost everyday vehicles. The biggest opportunity for advancement was within the battery technology.

·       As the case was under assessment there was an inability to make comments regarding investors, however it was recognised that there would be a significant proportion of private investment needed.

·       The UK had a very good industrial safety track record with world leading standards. Several battery factories had been established across Europe where there had been no incidents which would raise safety concerns. They operated in incredibly well controlled environments. The track record for battery manufacturing in the Western world was very good.

·       With regard to the future energy supply, members were advised that there were technologies that were ready to be used which could provide resilience to the grid, for example, the UK was a world leader in wind energy production.

·       An electric vehicle was significantly more environmentally friendly than a regular vehicle regardless of the production process over the life of the car. The CO2 production was double to produce an electric car however it would overcome that deficit early on in its lifetime. Where more components and materials of battery production were localised, the deficit would be overcome earlier in the car’s lifetime. Off-road sectors were being worked with to become electrified whilst mining for materials needed in battery production where the vehicle would charge itself going down the hill and use the charge to drive back up the hill. This resulted in battery production becoming greener.

·       Discussions with other potential inward investors were ongoing, but details could not be disclosed due to commercial confidentiality.

·       Battery life was considered for figures when looking at the CO2 emissions produced during production. Batteries were lasting longer than initially anticipated. The research and development projects were looking into how to extend battery life. Also, there were industries emerging around second life batteries where the old batteries were being broken down into components and given a second life elsewhere.

The Chair reiterated the members thanks to Mr Hetherington and commented on the informativeness of the presentation.  He agreed with members’ suggestion that a further presentation could be made to full Council as the development at Blyth and subsequent associated economic benefits were progressed.

RESOLVED that the presentation and members comments be noted.