Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has an important role to play in reinvigorating the UK’s industrial heartlands and driving investment. As the UK Government announced £21.7 billion of investment for carbon capture and storage in both the northeast and northwest of the UK, businesses and stakeholders gathered at Teesside’s Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre (NZIIC) for the SCI Energy Group event: Decarbonising the Teesside Cluster to discuss the role of CCS and hydrogen in decarbonising the region’s chemical and process industries.
Decarbonising without deindustrialising
Opening the event, Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer, director of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), acknowledged progress had been made towards achieving net-zero emissions in Teesside, but noted that some reductions could be attributed to the deindustrialisation that had taken place over several decades.
The loss of steelworks, iron production, and coal-fired power generation all played a role in reducing emissions. But Maroto-Valer cautioned that decarbonisation cannot come at the expense of industry and employment, adding that to maintain industries, it was essential to keep investment flowing into the region. Drawing attention to the huge variety of sectors, both within and between industrial clusters, Maroto-Valer noted that: “When you decarbonise clusters, you decarbonise sectors,” adding that there was a need to: “Identify cross-sectoral opportunities to decarbonise.” Maroto-Valer stressed that a cluster-based approach, supported by partnerships with universities and access to a network, was vital to aid the development of new clusters.
Clusters are flourishing
Teesside’s clusters have been evolving over several years, and as Gareth Fletcher from the Tees Valley Combined Authority explained the clusters now comprises 66 companies within a five-mile radius, consisting of energy generation, chemical production, logistics, engineering, and materials manufacturing. He noted that the geographical compactness of these sectors presents economic advantages. The ambition is for Teesside to become the UK’s first net-zero industrial cluster by 2040.
This ambition has gained momentum with the UK government’s announcement, during October, of £21.7 billion in funding for carbon capture and storage sites in Teesside and Merseyside. The funding aims to create 4,000 jobs and attract an additional £8 billion in private investment, marking a significant step forward in the UK's decarbonisation efforts. Fletcher explained that this investment is the result of a long process of engagement between local authorities and the government.
Describing the news as: “The biggest investment in the Teesside area in its industrial history,” Dr Gari Harris, Director of the NZIIC emphasised the importance of this development as the funding will play a crucial role in supporting the Teesside business model moving forward. Harris also touched upon the potential of direct air capture (DAC) technology. “To meet future targets,” Harris said, “the UK needs to remove approximately 80 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050.” Currently, DAC is capturing just 0.01 million tonnes, but with ambitious goals in place, this figure must rise dramatically. Harris mentioned that while the current cost of DAC stands at about £452 per tonne, recent data from the Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre indicates that costs could be significantly reduced in the near future. He explained that DAC not only removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but also captures other pollutants, suggesting that the potential climate benefits as well as health benefits are well in excess of the costs of such equipment. He underscored the importance of local research, training, and employment throughout this process.
Utilising hydrogen and waste
Turning to the importance of hydrogen Dave Robson, Hydrogen External Relations Lead at Kellas Midstream an independent energy infrastructure company, reinforced the importance of balancing decarbonisation without deindustrialisation highlighting the H2NorthEast project which is seeing the construction of a 1GW CCUS-enabled low carbon hydrogen production facility on Teesside that has the potential to contribute up to 10% of the UK’s target 10GW hydrogen capacity by 2030.
Noting the importance of this project, and others like it, Robson said that that the UK currently has only about 1% of the hydrogen and CCS infrastructure necessary to meet its net zero targets, underscoring the need for a well-managed transition. Robson also noted the necessity for a dedicated distribution system for hydrogen and the development of projects like East Coast Hydrogen, which will link Teesside and Humberside.
Providing an update on a SUEZ carbon capture project which is set to capture 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide once it becomes fully operational Sinead Goodall, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, outlined ambitious plans to integrate carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology at an Energy from Waste (EfW) plant on Teesside. As part of the Net Zero Teesside Initiative, SUEZ has plans to capture up to 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually once fully operational. This integration, explained Goodall, positions SUEZ as a leader in demonstrating how CCUS can be scaled within the waste sector and aligns with Teesside's role as a pivotal hub for industrial decarbonisation in the UK.
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