Strong concern over the Humber’s omission from the first phase of carbon capture and storage projects has been expressed to Secretary of State for Energy, Grant Shapps.
The Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce has written asking for a rapid rethink, in a joint letter alongside local authority leaders.
March’s Westminster announcements saw proposals in the North East and North West named as forerunners, disappointing the region with the highest industrial emissions in the UK - a factor said to give the region “the most bang for the buck”. And while the Viking CCS scheme was named as a leading contender for the track two element - a plan focused on the refinery and power-generating cluster around Immingham, with potential to ship in via the port - the Zero Carbon Humber dual hydrogen and CCS pipeline plan - linking Drax to Easington via industrial emitters at Keadby, Scunthorpe, North Killingholme and Saltend - didn’t feature.
Read more: Partner behind proposed Humber low carbon pipelines to exit carbon capture and storage
The Chamber has echoed fears that a £15 billion investment portfolio linked to the huge scheme, with the likes of Drax, SSE, British Steel, Uniper, Equinor and others as stakeholders could now be at risk, as heads are turned elsewhere.
External affairs director David Hooper said: “The shock that the Humber missed out completely in these announcements is palpable among the region’s business leaders and puts the Humber’s leading role on this agenda in serious peril.
“The Chamber’s view is that the UK should go green through the Humber, and the country cannot go green without the Humber!
“We urge Energy Secretary Grant Shapps to reconsider the Government’s stance on the Humber proposals and do the right thing by advancing these largely privately funded schemes which are ready to go!”
The door was left open to add further projects later in the year, or substitute if those selected don’t come to fruition, but the opportunity to lead was seen as a major incentive to win global leverage for technology and expertise.
Following on from Drax’s latest trading update, in which it revealed up to £50 million of investment has been paused, Mr Hooper added: “The Chamber welcomes the announcement by Drax’s chief executive, Will Gardener, that the Government has now opened a dialogue with this important Chamber patron and hopes there will be further Government announcements shortly on other Humber carbon capture proposals which were submitted to Government by other leading Chamber members such as Equinor and Phillips 66.”
Phillips 66 is part of Viking CCS, and is also a partner in Gigastack, a green hydrogen production plan by the refinery - involving energy generated by Orsted's offshore wind farm - which was also progressed.
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