Ten years after the closure and subsequent liquidation of SSI UK’s Redcar Steelworks, the site, now known as Teesworks, is marking its transformation into a major industrial zone for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

The Redcar steel production plant, including the blast furnace, was closed in October 2015, resulting in the loss of approximately 2,200 jobs. A decade on, the revitalised site, part of the Teesside Freeport, is home to key infrastructure and industrial projects.

The largest occupier is the SeAH Wind offshore wind monopile manufacturing facility, a £950 million investment by the South Korean corporation SeAH Steel Holdings. Construction on the massive factory is complete, and it has recently begun commercial production, manufacturing foundations for major projects like the Ørsted Hornsea 3 wind farm. The facility is expected to create up to 750 direct jobs once fully operational, with hundreds more in the supply chain.

Alongside this development, the Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) project is advancing, having reached financial close in late 2024 and entered the execution phase. The joint venture between bp and Equinor plans to be the world’s first commercial-scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Construction is underway, with an expected start-up in 2028. The overall project, including the associated Northern Endurance Partnership CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, represents contracts valued at approximately £4 billion and is forecast to create over 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 operational jobs.

Teesworks has also commissioned a new 450-metre-long heavy lift quay on the South Bank, significantly enhancing the site’s capacity to handle the large-scale components required by the offshore wind sector.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “The day the steelworks closed was one of the toughest in Teesside’s history. Families were torn apart, livelihoods were lost and an industry that had defined our area for generations was all but gone. But we refused to be written off. We took back control of the site and, in just a few short years, transformed it into Teesworks.”

Chris Musgrave, Chairman of Teesworks, commented on the regeneration: “The closure of the steelworks was devastating, but in just a decade we have turned that loss into one of the UK’s greatest regeneration success stories. That work is already paying off with SeAH Wind’s £950million offshore wind monopile manufacturing facility, Net Zero Teesside Power at Redcar, and the new Steel River Quay all bringing hundreds of good jobs to local people.”

The redevelopment of the former steelworks, a large brownfield site in the North East of England, underscores a major strategic shift towards energy transition and advanced manufacturing in the region.