15 September 2006
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is planning to build a £1 billion energy institute.
Due to be announced in the Budget in March, the Energy Technologies Institute will research ways to generate electricity and minimise the emission of greenhouse gases.
The institute will be funded by the DTI and energy firms such as Shell, E.ON UK, BP and EDF Energy.
Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, said: "If we bring together what government does, what companies like Shell, BP do, if we bring that together, we've got a better chance of pooling expertise, speeding up the development of these things.
"Secure and sustainable energy is of paramount importance to our prosperity and way of life - both now and in the future. We want to meet this challenge by making the UK a world leader in developing vital new energy technologies."
The institute is set for completion by 2008.
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