Situated on the edge of Middlesbrough in north-eastern England sits the Teesside Advanced Manufacturing Park (TeesAMP), home to Teesside University’s Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre (NZIIC). Based on the site of a former ironworks and home to several forward-looking and innovative new businesses, its location is an apt metaphor for the work of the NZIIC.

As the Tees Valley economy looks to a future beyond its carbon intensive petrochemical and steelmaking industries (such as a growing supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel, SAF) the NZIIC sits at the nexus between those past and future industries.

The transition to a net zero economy is at the heart of Teesside University’s mission and the NZIIC is key to this. It helps existing businesses to reduce their carbon emissions and, at the same time, supports research into innovative new technologies that can be scaled up into new businesses.

Creating a green legacy  
The £13mn national centre of excellence for green technologies opened in July 2023 and has quickly established itself as an integral part of the region’s net zero economy.

The facility received funding from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.

An independent report into the impact of the NZIIC, published in 2023, has credited it with already creating a ‘green legacy’ for the region by delivering vital support to regional businesses and helping to create employment and innovation opportunities.

Its work as a national centre of excellence for net zero technologies is also attracting international attention, including from South Africa. The NZIIC is working on several collaborative projects with South African universities and has twice hosted the South African Minister for Science and Higher Education.

Key to the NZIIC’s success has been its commitment to collaboration with industry, building on Teesside University’s established reputation as an anchor institution driving economic growth.

Most recently, it has collaborated with TWI (The Welding Institute), a neighbour at TeesAMP, on the construction of a new engineering hall that will serve as a catalyst for industrial decarbonisation efforts in the Tees Valley.

In this shared facility, joint research bids will be assembled and, upon success, executed within the engineering hall.

Anticipated as a catalyst for technology readiness levels (TRL) four to six – research excellence and breakthroughs – the engineering hall stands poised to drive impactful advancements in the green reindustrialisation of the Tees Valley.

Advanced waste-to-energy  
The University was recently successful in receiving funding for research investigating how to reduce the carbon footprint from waste-to-energy (WtE) plants.

Professor Dawid Hanak, in collaboration with Professor Kumar Patchigolla, has been granted funding from the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Community’s (UKCCSRC) Flexible Funding call to look at how carbon capture technology can be used alongside WtE plants.

The research will address a critical need for the East Coast Cluster by assessing the techno-economic and carbon footprint of advanced WtE with carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The East Coast Cluster aims to remove nearly 50% of the UK’s industrial emissions. To achieve this, there is a need for innovative solutions such as CCS retrofits to WtE plants.

The WtE sector is projected to contribute up to an estimated 20mn t/y of CO₂ in the UK and requires low-carbon alternatives to mitigate its environmental impact.

The research project will assess an advanced WtE plant based on calcium looping combustion (CaLC), which uses a compound of the element as a chemical sorbent to capture CO₂ emissions.

The outcomes of this research project include a comprehensive assessment of the advanced WtE plant, an industrial roadmap for CaLC development, and a technical report highlighting the potential of WtE to provide negative emissions.

Developing alternative fuel capabilities  
For the past two decades, Teesside University has been at the forefront of the regional effort to establish a hydrogen economy and this expertise is driving forward an ambitious £11mn project to support hydrogen innovation locally.

Together with Durham University, Teesside has embarked upon the four-year project which has received funding from the Research England Development (RED) Fund, part of UK Research and Innovation.

The Tees Valley is responsible for almost 50% of the UK’s production of hydrogen, and innovation in this sector is predicted to be a huge driver of economic growth in the region. In 2018, a report by KPMG found that exploiting the opportunities of the hydrogen economy could add up to £7bn to the Tees Valley economy by 2050 and create up to 1,000 high-value jobs.

Key challenges to be addressed by the project include fuel switching to hydrogen for high-grade heating, the use of hydrogen in flexible and resilient power systems, and hydrogen-fuelled heavy-duty transportation.

Crucially, the project will also investigate policy and regulatory barriers to the transition to hydrogen energy, as well as ways in which a just transition to net zero can be achieved to ensure communities benefit from both improvements to employment opportunities and the natural environment.

The Tees Valley is responsible for almost 50% of the UK’s production of hydrogen and innovation in this sector is predicted to be a huge driver of economic growth in the region.

The NZIIC is already collaborating on an innovative hydrogen transport demonstration project in the Tees Valley, with academics from the University helping to evaluate the success of the project.

The project will see fleets of zero emission trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, being deployed across the region from the mid-2020s. These vehicles will be used by some of the Tees Valley’s largest vehicle operators and will replace diesel vehicles, thus reducing local air pollution and carbon emissions.

It will also involve the construction of a hydrogen refuelling station by Exolum at its Riverside terminal, close to Middlesbrough town centre.

The station will be capable of dispensing up to 1.5 t/d of hydrogen.

Academics from Teesside University’s School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies and the NZIIC will provide data monitoring and performance evaluation of the project.

The project will unlock at least £15mn of private investment, showcasing the first large-scale deployment of fuel cell electric trucks in the UK with the aim of encouraging additional stations to be built along the strategic road network.

The project partners see this as a critical first step towards developing a network of hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK.

Vehicle used in the Tees Valley hydrogen transport project 
Photo: Teesside University 
 

Delivering on ambition  
As a national centre of excellence for net zero technology and innovation the NZIIC has an unashamedly bold ambition to be a key player in the decarbonisation of what has traditionally been one of the most carbon-intensive regions of the UK.

However, Dr Gari Harris, Director of the NZIIC, believes the Tees Valley’s industrial heritage will be key to the success of this mission.

Equally important is that there is also a will both from policymakers and from industry to see it achieved.

The NZIIC is already a key component of Tees Valley Combined Authority’s regional innovation strategy, and industry partners are keen to take advantages of the opportunities offered by net zero.

Dr Harris says: ‘To truly achieve net zero, we need the big players in this region and beyond to get involved and, in my experience, they really want to come along with us. The East Coast Cluster is developing first-in-pipe technology around carbon capture and storage and green/blue hydrogen production, and we have the largest hydrogen storage capabilities in the country.’ 

‘As well as the moral imperative to cut carbon, there’s a real economic advantage with some major opportunities to be had. People here are aware of that, and we are here to support them.’