North East England – Our Energy Industry

About the Project

This project provides the most comprehensive, evidence-based overview of the energy landscape across the North East Combined Authority and the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
It brings together detailed intelligence on:

• Current and planned energy projects across the region including investment levels and development timelines.
• Key energy infrastructure spanning: ports, industrial zones, Freeport areas such as Teesworks, transmission and distribution networks, substations across various voltage levels, gas distribution networks, storage facilities, and operational energy assets.
• Jobs and future employment potential across the energy value chain.

How the Project Supports the North East

By consolidating this intelligence in one place, the project will:

• Provide a clear and compelling proposition for investors, developers, and government.
• Strengthen the North East’s position as a leading UK hub for energy innovation, manufacturing, and decarbonisation.
• Highlight the region’s strategic assets and the economic value generated during both development and operational phases.
• Support long-term planning around land availability, infrastructure, workforce needs, and regional clean-growth pathways.

Progress to Date

Although the contract has just been formally signed, work has already been underway for the past three months, with strong progress made. Achievements include:

• A consolidated, comprehensive database of all energy projects across the region at various stages of development from operational assets to early-stage proposals with layered information covering technical details and key stakeholders.
• A full infrastructure mapping exercise, including electricity transmission and distribution networks, substations, gas distribution pipelines, storage facilities, and active energy-system assets.
• Early development of a Power BI dashboard and geospatial visualisation, which will present the entire energy ecosystem in a clear, structured, and accessible format for stakeholders.

Leadership

The project is led by Sindhura Kalyanam, PhD researcher and alumna of Durham University Business School, with project sponsorship by Dr Joanna Berry and Dr Stuart Jones. Sindhura brings over 10 years of industry experience, primarily in the energy sector, and has held leadership roles in commercial and operations management. Her industry background and academic expertise ensure that the project is both rigorous and grounded in real-world insight.

Internship Integration

Alongside the NOF collaboration, DEI is welcoming Wilfred Sargent as an intern, supervised by Prof. Joanna Berry, Prof. Stuart Jones and Sindhura Kalyanam. Wilf’s work will focus on the social readiness of energy projects, mapping planning permissions and identifying key stages of public consultation and acceptance.

This internship complements the NOF partnership by embedding the social dimension into the project’s outputs ensuring that the project also reflects community voice and planning transparency.