The view from the cooling towers of VPI’s Humber power plant reveals the scale of the region’s industrial landscape – and its immense potential.
Visible to the north are some of Europe’s largest manufacturers. Glancing west, a facility producing battery-grade coke for electric vehicles. Ahead, the UK’s largest port. On the horizon is Hornsea 2, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, whose giant turbine blades were manufactured across the bay in Hull.
Here is a community forged by generations working in industry. Contributing £18bn a year to the economy, the Humber remains one of the nation’s most critical industrial clusters. It supports thousands of skilled, well-paid jobs and exports innovation around the world.
But the winds of change are blowing. This year, three significant industrial employers in the area have been at risk of closure, or went on to close. Meanwhile, other industries continue to develop huge opportunities to create growth as the UK transitions to a net zero future. Refineries pioneering sustainable aviation fuels; power companies investing in low-carbon hydrogen and carbon capture; and new sectors such as data centres, seeking clean, reliable power, are exploring opportunities.
For the Humber, decarbonising is a chance to secure the region’s future by leading the world in low-carbon innovation. Establishing carbon capture and storage (CCS) is central to that effort. Done right, it will cut emissions, help future-proof industry, and create new opportunities in the clean energy jobs of the future.
The government made a welcome commitment to reach a final investment decision on the Viking CCS cluster within this parliament. Investors are keen to invest billions to deliver the project. However, while the government has moved at speed to progress the UK CCS industry since last year’s election, maintaining the pace of delivery on Viking CCS, and even exploring ways to accelerate this, is crucial.
This will make it more certain that – in a world where the UK faces much competition from other countries to attract and secure international capital – investors will commit this capital to the UK, when they see the determination of the government to bring the project to completion.
Viking CCS, operated by Harbour Energy, will create a carbon capture and storage network centred on the depleted Viking gas field in the southern North Sea. During the anchor phase of Viking, the project is expected to generate around 8,000 jobs at peak construction and attract £13bn of investment by 2035.
With the UK’s largest port nearby, the Humber can become a gateway for exporting carbon storage capacity to Europe – worth as much as £30bn annually by 2050, according to the Carbon Capture and Storage Association.
At the heart of this ambition is VPI’s combined heat and power plant in Immingham – the largest of its kind in Europe, which supports the UK’s refinery capacity. It provides essential steam and power to local industry and electricity to one million homes. The site has been chosen as one of Viking CCS’s first “anchor emitter” projects and is awaiting formal government approval.
The project will retrofit carbon capture technology to capture CO2 from two gas turbines and two auxiliary boilers, and compress and condition it for transport through the Viking pipeline, storing it in the depleted field offshore. During construction, VPI expects a range of 70-80 per cent of its value chain to be British, creating around 1,500 construction jobs and high-value permanent roles once operational.
In an era of fiscal constraint, the government must prioritise projects that offer the best value for money, are ready to deliver, and can scale quickly. VPI’s proposal stands out on all three fronts.
As a retrofit – to an existing power plant rather than a project to build a new one from scratch – it is an efficient approach that can save up to 40 per cent or more, according to industry studies.
Much of the groundwork is done. Front-end engineering and design is complete; the plant holds the UK’s first environmental permit for its selected amine capture technology, and has full planning consent. Construction can start rapidly once government approval is granted and revenue support agreed.
Viking would make a substantial contribution to decarbonisation. The project aims to transport and store four million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2032.
VPI and a neighbouring Humber refinery can capture around 3.8 million tonnes annually. This would make the network commercially viable and anchor the wider industrial decarbonisation of the region.
Location helps too. Much of the necessary infrastructure is already in place: the offshore pipeline from the depleted Viking gas field exists, requiring only a 55km onshore link to connect
to emitters. With VPI located on its doorstep, this is a uniquely efficient and lower-risk starting point for large-scale carbon capture in the UK. CCS in the Humber can play a vital role in meeting national energy security and climate goals.
Even as renewable connections increase, gas will remain necessary to balance the grid and provide reliable power for a growing, electrified economy. Decarbonising gas-fired generation while cutting industrial emissions is a win-win.
Viking CCS will help sustain the Humber’s role as an industrial powerhouse, attract global companies to the area who want access to cleaner, reliable energy, future-proof jobs and support the Clean Energy Jobs Plan.
VPI has invested £450m over the past five years to provide secure, flexible power. It plans to more than triple that to realise its carbon capture project – but this depends on swift government decisions, support and clarity over the revenue model that will underpin long-term investment.
A predictable framework will give industry the confidence to move from design to delivery. Over time, economies of scale and rising carbon prices will further strengthen the case for CCS, reducing the cost to the taxpayer.
To meet its commitment of reaching a final investment decision within this parliament, the government must maintain pace and confidence in delivery. The government can prove that a strategic, mission-driven approach can turn today’s industrial heartlands into tomorrow’s low-carbon powerhouses.
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