Chamber members hear of RWE’s huge investment and clean energy plans for Humber

Corrine Barry (centre) pictured with Chamber President Albert Weatherill and the Chair of the Chamber’s North East Lincolnshire Area Council, Irene Keal.

THE Chamber’s North East Lincolnshire Area Council which met at Grimsby Institute heard about RWE’s work in and around the Humber from its first UK East Coast Director for Net Zero, Corrine Barry.

Corrine gave members an overview of her role in aligning RWE’s net zero ambitions with those of the Humber, Teesside and surrounding areas, supporting the decarbonisation of local industry.

She also touched on the creation of new jobs, the development of a future skilled workforce and how the industry will benefit the local supply chain and communities. 

Corrine told the meeting that RWE is a German company which is responsible for 15% of the UK’s electricity generation, supplying more than 10-million homes.

It is thought the company could be investing up to £15-billion in the Humber by 2030 and part of that would be its next major project on Dogger Bank which will see the installation of a 3GW windfarm.

The company’s primary focus was in the Humber as it was the biggest carbon emitter, along with Teeside.

Talking about recruitment and training, Corinne echoed what other businesses tell the Chamber, that skills shortages are still a key issue. “We’ve recently advertised for some roles for our offshore work – we interviewed 75 people, but out of those we could only appoint 22.”

On a positive note, she added: “We have just appointed four apprentices for our Grimsby hub and they are all female – and that wasn’t because we needed to tick some equality boxes, but because they were the best candidates – and that’s very encouraging.”