HALTON Council’s leader has been tasked with heading up Mersey region’s drive to harness green energy.

Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram has appointed Cllr Rob Polhill as the new cabinet member for energy, renewables and air quality.

He pledged his commitment to creating a zero carbon region by 2040 at the launch of the next phase of Dong Energy’s expansion of the Burbo Bank off-short wind farm in Liverpool Bay.

Mr Rotheram said: “The massive expansion of off-shore wind energy spearheaded by Dong Energy is a pointer to the future, both in terms of energy and economic policy.

“I believe that it is an achievable objective for our city region to harness its natural assets to work towards self-reliance on renewable energy.

“Harnessing the power of the Mersey estuary and moving ahead with the best practicable option for tidal power generation, will be a transformational project for the entire city region.

“I look forward to working closely with Rob Polhill to move this project forward.”

Cllr Polhill welcomes his new portfolio and believes that renewable energy and green technology were industries of the future where the city region had a decisive competitive edge.

Cllr Polhill said: “We have outstanding natural assets, world-class research capability and a cluster of cutting edge companies like Dong Energy already operating in the city region.

“The devolution agreement, metro mayor and empowered combined authority now gives us the opportunity to really exploit this potential.

“Perhaps in the past, the scale and complexity of a tidal scheme for the Mersey estuary has seemed daunting, but these are the sort of bold and ambitious projects we need to embrace if we are to make the most of devolution.”