The Port of Tyne says it is investing to ensure the North East reaps the benefits of the green revolution, despite reporting its second consecutive loss.
The Port has posted an adjusted loss before tax of 拢1.1m for 2020 - a difficult year in which it lost income from cruise and ferry passengers, and saw a major drop in cars exported from the Nissan factory in Sunderland.
Revenues at the port fell to 拢42.4m but port bosses invested 拢2.5m in facilities to secure the Equinor/SSE renewables base for the massive Dogger Bank in the North Sea.
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It will invest a further 拢20m this year as the port - like many others - seeks to secure tenants in the lucrative renewables and offshore energy sectors.
Port chief executive Matt Beeton said that the Port鈥檚 position on the North Sea coast and its deep sea berths gave it an advantage in attracting green industries to the region. His comments come after a major surge of interest and investment in clean energies around the world.
Mr Beeton said: 鈥淲e could have really battoned down the hatches last year and not done anything in terms of investment to just look after the short-term balance sheet. But going into this year we鈥檙e investing 拢20m in land in various forms across the port.
鈥淟ast year was a difficult year but keeping the supply of biomass to Lynemouth Power and Drax so they could continue to work was really essential.
鈥淚nvesting in that land helped us win the Equinor contract, which was great. But in the longer-term, we鈥檝e launched the Tyne Clean Energy Park which is 200 acres for clean energy because we are on the precipice of something big, whether鈥檚 that offshore wind or other renewables.
鈥淭he chance to grab that is in the next couple of years. Equinor is a 30-year contract and we want more of them. We want more employment in the region so it鈥檚 essential that we carry on investing in the port and working with stakeholders down the river so the whole region benefits.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been asked: 鈥榃ouldn鈥檛 it have been prudent not to invest?鈥 and the answer鈥檚 no.鈥
The port鈥檚 annual reports show that bulk cargoes fell 8% to 2.7m tonnes in 2020 but the number of cars exported dropped by 27% and cruise ship visits stopped entirely. The port鈥檚 gross value added to the region economy fell from 拢618m to 拢557m.
But Mr Beeton said the port had budgeted to return to profit this year and was ahead of schedule for that.
He added: 鈥淚t goes without saying that this has been a challenging time for us all and a difficult one for many businesses, but our vision to create opportunities for regional growth has not changed.
鈥淲e are emerging from this period in a much stronger position thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff and we are ready to embrace the many challenges and opportunities which lie ahead of us.
"Now is the time to grasp these opportunities, to be ambitious and look to the future so that the port continues to thrive as a catalyst for growth in the years ahead.鈥
