The Humber region poses one of the largest opportunities to meet UK net zero goals, by Phillips 66, VPI, CATCH and Harbour Energy
The CCSA, Phillips 66 Limited, VPI, CATCH and Harbour Energy came together to discuss one of the major opportunities in the UK for carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Humber alone accounts for the highest industrial emissions in the UK, making it a prime target for industrial decarbonisation.
The panel session welcomed businesses from across the industry to the Phillips 66 London offices to hear about how this region plans to decarbonise while delivering reliable energy for this thriving industrial area. On the panel was Simon Holt, Emerging Energy Europe Manager, Phillips 66 Limited; Martin Edwards, Senior Commercial Advisor, Harbour Energy; James Beresford-Lambert, Project Engineering Manager, VPI; and Katie Hedges, Director of Membership and Low Carbon Strategy, CATCH.
Collaboration is key, if we are going to make this possible.
It will take everyone to come together to support the UK government’s 2050 net zero ambitions and deliver reliable energy. The organisations represented on the panel have a vital role in contributing from providing the essential materials to make everyday products to delivering flexible power for industry and homes, building CO2 pipeline infrastructure and storage, and growing the skills needed to make all these decarbonisation projects possible.
“It’s a domino effect,” said Simon.
“At the Humber Refinery, we need decarbonised power alongside carbon capture technology to deliver lower carbon products. Some of the products we are making today such as sustainable aviation fuel and battery coke are already helping to decarbonise the transport sector. The next step is to lower our operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Phillips 66 Limited, alongside VPI and Harbour Energy, are looking at delivering the first carbon capture and storage projects in the Humber region. Between Phillips 66 Limited and VPI, under the Humber Zero brand, they aim to capture up to 3.8 million tonnes of CO2 per annum from around 2028.”
It takes major investment to make these projects possible, this is why policies such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will play an important role in not only supporting UK businesses but also in developing the right regulatory environment to allow businesses to contribute to energy security.
“If we are investing in the UK, we want to support UK manufacturing and not offshore GHG emissions through imports. We need to make sure we are having a positive impact on the environment, supporting UK supply chain businesses, and protecting and growing quality jobs for our economy to thrive.” Added Simon.
Critical UK manufacturing facilities such as the Humber Refinery, produce products that are used to create everyday goods, from pharmaceuticals to household items. Without a UK industrial base, we wouldn’t have access to locally created products we have today.
We have a lot of world-leading industry at our fingertips that we need to maintain. The Humber Refinery is a great example of this as it is Europe’s only producer of speciality graphite coke used in the production of electric vehicle batteries and is the UK’s only commercial scale producer of sustainable aviation fuel.
Flexible, on demand, lower carbon power
Another key component of the Humber industrial cluster is access to reliable power and steam. VPI’s combined heat and power plant is the largest of its kind in Europe. It provides power and steam to the Phillips 66 Limited Humber Refinery and steam to the Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, two of the UK’s six oil refineries. It also provides flexible power and grid stability services to meet the electricity needs for one million homes. The next step for the plant is to decarbonise. Given its proximity to the transport and storage network being built by Harbour Energy, it makes sense to use carbon capture and storage to decarbonise. This will not only allow VPI to deliver low carbon reliable power and steam but will also help kick start the decarbonisation of surrounding industry, by enabling the required infrastructure.
James Beresford-Lambert, said:
“Two key elements distinguish VPI as an emitter project. First its materiality together with Phillips 66 Limited we could contribute nearly 20% of government 2030 targets for carbon capture. Secondly, our readiness. We have completed our front-end engineering designs and have recently appointed our EPC contractor. We look forward to hearing the government’s decision on anchor emitters for Viking CCS so we can move forward.”
Without a pipeline, none of these plans would be possible.
Harbour Energy is leading the way for the Humber region with the planned Viking CCS CO2 pipeline. Viking CCS is a flagship project uniquely placed to help the UK decarbonise and grow, providing a gateway for investment and the development of a regional lower-carbon hub. The project plans to store 10 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030 and 15 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2035, which would meet up to one third of the UK’s CCS target.
The Humber could be the UK’s first net zero region, combining industrial-scale green energy generation and new carbon capture and storage infrastructure to enable an industrial renaissance and new energy ecosystem. Viking CCS can deliver a material acceleration to this transition.
Technical skills will be vital!
If we are to meet the needs of all the decarbonisation projects in the region, technical skills will have a huge role to play. It is projected that if we don’t act now there will be a 40% skills shortage in essential trades such as welding and pipefitting, that equates to around 54,000 jobs. CATCH is on a journey to help fill this gap with the aim to increase its training capacity from 100 to 1,000 by 2029. This ambitious plan aims to inspire young people, re-skill individuals who would like to change careers, and get people back into work. Through this UK leading strategy, it will catalyse the change needed in the skills and education sector, whilst building a world leading Net Zero training centre.
Katie Hedges, said:
“With the support of our member partners, we are challenging the skills landscape on behalf of our future craftspeople. Action is needed now, and we are delighted to be at the forefront of that action. Numerous industrial reports tell us that skills are the key to unlocking the decarbonisation challenge and we will solve that collaboratively as a region by increasing the number of new entrants to industry. I was delighted to support the CCSA panel discussion and look forward to working together in the near future.”