Green Lizard’ s plans for its 500-acre estate are set to drive national green energy innovation and economic revival
DEVELOPMENT
Decision makers – professor Martin Atkins, CEO and chief technology officer at Green Lizard Technologies, Paul Foster CBE, CEO of Community Nuclear Power and Green Lizard Group chairman Ian Hunter.
VISION ON!
Green Lizard’ s plans for its 500-acre estate are set to drive national green energy innovation and economic revival
PICTURES: CHRIS BOOTH
Deep in Teesside’ s oncethriving industrial heartlands, a transformative vision has been taking shape over the last decade.
Business leader Ian Hunter has been meticulously preparing his 500-acre estate for a new chapter, collaborating with his current tenants and turning down opportunities to sell or divide the land, choosing instead to nurture an ambitious and forward-thinking plan of national importance for regeneration of land on the north bank of the Tees.
To deliver this plan, Ian has collaborated with a formidable team of industry leaders, including Professor Martin Atkins, previously chief scientist at BP China, and Paul Foster CBE, former CEO of the Sellafield nuclear site, along with other industry experts, to form the Green Lizard Group.
Green Lizard’ s vision is“ to plan, build and deliver a nationally important green energy, fuel and chemical park on Teesside, where integrated processes will manufacture low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel( SAF), methanol, diesel, gasoline and chemicals / intermediates, enabled by four small modular nuclear reactors in an end-to-end ecosystem”.
Over the past 15 years, the UK chemical sector has seen a progressive and slow rebalancing of its import-export balance, from a surplus in 2015 and rough parity in 2021 to a significant trade deficit at present.
Green Lizard’ s plans to develop the green energy, fuels and chemicals park on its estate, at a scale comparable to the London Olympics site, will help reverse those declines.
Through its multi-billion-pound stimulus to the local economy, thousands of jobs will be created as well as business for local SMEs and adjacent opportunities for entrepreneurs for multiple generations.
The Green Lizard team has created a masterplan for the estate, wanting to ensure all options are open for projects that complement each other both now and in the future.
It has stayed committed to its Teesside roots and the belief that the estate can provide for multiple generations to come if it remains protected in its entirety.
Part of this protection is Green Lizard’ s investment and commitment to wildlife conservation, which includes the gifting of a nature reserve to the RSPB, building additional lagoons and protecting habitats to encourage new species to the area.
52 | Tees Business