A leading figure in an industry set to transform the Humber has told of her frustration at 'Groundhog Day' briefings with successive new governments.
Key economic and policy frameworks are awaited from Westminster to enable the grand carbon capture and storage plans set to clean up industry thrive.
But Downing Street’s 2022 revolving door and the new prime ministers’ cabinet appointments have seen momentum stall on what is seen as a lifeline for traditional hard-to-abate sectors on the road to Net Zero.
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Olivia Powis is head of the UK Office at the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, and she took to the stage for the launch of the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan.
Telling of “Groundhog Days of briefing, briefing, briefing” she said: “We have made huge progress in the UK in really developing world class regulatory and business models, but we have got stuck over the last year. The decisions have not been made within government. It is not the civil servants’ fault, but the nature of changes and chaos at the top. These decisions haven’t been made.
“We have all the structure sat there but we need final decisions. We need the Energy Bill so we have the legislation there and we need the money to pump-prime the industry to get it going, and then to attract investors. We have all the other pieces, but these are the most important, and we cannot stop now. We are all eagerly awaiting an announcement, perhaps in the budget next week.”
She reflected on the work in the States on the Inflation Reduction Act and RePower in Brussels.
“The US and Europe are moving forward, and we have got to keep the pressure on. We know there are lots of companies here, large operators, and all the targets the government has set can be met in this cluster.
“We want to get the final pieces of the jigsaw put in place to get us over the line.”
Boris Johnson’s reshuffles as he lost parliamentary support were followed by Liz Truss’s brief tenure, itself including two business secretaries, before Rishi Sunak’s election. He has recently created an entirely new department with oversight, splitting Business Energy and Industrial Strategy to form a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Chris Gilbert, technical manager and UK decarbonisation lead for Phillips 66, acknowledged the lag, praising early action. He said the “industrial cluster concept has really worked” adding that collaboration was key and the enabler for that had been the government.
Humber Refinery is plugged into several projects that form part of the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan, including CCS. Mr Gilbert said: “The UK has always been seen as the torch bearer on the decarbonisation journey, but with the hesitation we have seen recently it has allowed the States and Europe to makes announcements and close the gap.” He added that it did pose questions for international investors about where to opt for, underlining Phillips 66’s Houston roots.
And while policy delivery was the major ask, skills were also highlighted. Shortages of key trades and the cumulative demand in one region remains a concern, with 22,000 jobs flagged. Only this week further capacity has been added in one core discipline.
“We need such an influx of people,” Mr Gilbert said. “We need scientists and engineers, and we need all trades; civils, welders, pipefitters, cable pullers, all these roles will need to be filled, and we’re talking about massive increases. We need to educate people at school to encourage pupils to stay in Stem subjects and realise they can have a really good career in all of these trades.”
He said agency capacity to handle the volume of applications was also required, be it regulatory, planning or environmental, stating it wasn’t insurmountable.
“I cannot emphasise enough how we want certainty so we can de-risk a project and proceed,” he added.
While there is an element of over-the-shoulder looking across the waters east and west, Jonathan Briggs, Humber Zero project director said the nature of carbon capture made the UK a unique offer.
“It is a massive opportunity having these geological assets,” he said of the depleted oil and gas fields now being realigned for a new use. The rest of Europe is in a very different position and had to look at different technology, and that’s not necessarily ready,” he said.
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