Clean Energy Transition

Net-zero by 2040

Industrial clusters have a big role to play in the clean energy transition across the globe, with 3,000 such clusters identified in Europe alone, few have the diversity and scale of the Humber – the UK’s energy estuary. The Humber has the largest cluster of industrial CO2 emitters in the UK - 30% more than the next largest. Presenting a great opportunity.

The Humber industry is already on the right track: with projects including Zero Carbon Humber, Humber Zero, The Northern Endurance Partnership, V Net Zero and the East Coast Cluster recognised nationally and internationally as bold, innovative Deployment Projects, with recent funding already announced for some of these by the UK Government.

These projects are crucial in leading the Humber to become the first low-carbon industrial cluster in the 2030s, but stakeholders in the region have an even more ambitious target in mind: Net Zero. To develop the understanding of what will be needed to achieve net zero by 2040, two regional organisations - the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership and CATCH - have teamed up with 8 industrial partners to secure funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to deliver the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan in early 2023.

This overarching, technology-led roadmap will identify how best to configure the Deployment Projects with emerging low-carbon infrastructure and identify opportunities to drive emissions to zero – and beyond - whilst also identifying opportunities for inward green investment. The HICP brings together key stakeholders in the region and delivers important updates from partners and associated deployment projects through the Industrial Decarbonisation Network and the Hydrogen Network.

A number of these schemes represent an investment in the future, such as the Zero Carbon Humber, Humber Zero and V Net Zero. These will take a big step towards making carbon capture and storage a commercial reality in the Humber, ultimately benefiting not only existing operators but also providing an attractive operational incentive for new manufacturing investments to the region.

Net Zero Energy and Manufacturing Opportunities

• Existing private wire networks are available on adjoining sites to power industry at competitive rates due to reduced transmission charges
• Existing surplus steam supplies available
• Existing and planned biomass and waste to energy plants can provide green power to industrial users
• Opportunities are available to utilise offshore wind energy from the largest farms in the world off the Humber coast
• Future opportunity to plug into a Humber-wide carbon capture and storage pipeline
• Potential for industrial users to benefit from future hydrogen blended natural gas supplies
• Untapped geothermal energy lies underneath the Humber area