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Humber Zero decarbonisation project
Phillips 66, Uniper and VPI Immingham have entered into a memorandum of understanding to co-develop Humber Zero, a large-scale decarbonisation project that is aligned with the wider Humber Industrial Decarbonisation Deployment Project (Humber DP) in the UK. Initially, Humber Zero will decarbonise 8mn t/y of CO2 emissions, with the potential to target 30mn tonnes of CO2 emissions from the wider Humber Cluster to the west of Immingham.
Humber Zero has already secured support from Innovate UK and is to be operational by the mid-2020s. It is claimed to be the most effective means of rapidly reducing the region’s industrial emissions, through the decarbonisation of the Phillips 66 and Total refineries, and the power plant, VPI Immingham, which serves them. Post-combustion capture on two of the three existing generators at VPI Immingham and selected processing units at the Humber and Lindsay refineries will be combined with the development of a hydrogen hub producing green and blue hydrogen* to serve the third generator and local industry.
The Humber is an industrial hub that is home to one third of the UK’s refining capacity. The scale of industry in the region makes it a critical partner in the UK government’s ambition to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050.
In addition to integrating carbon capture technology into a pre-existing cluster of energy intensive industries to deliver an immediate reduction of regional CO2 emissions, Humber Zero’s coastal location enables the efficient offtake of CO2 into offshore depleted oil and gas fields and gives access to offshore wind developments for electrolysis. Furthermore, the project could decarbonise other efficient power stations and industry, such as British Steel, through the planned southern Humber pipeline route. Its proximity to the deepwater Immingham port will enable the creation of a CO2 exporting industry and enable the decarbonisation of a major UK port.
*Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas and decarbonised using carbon capture to separate out CO2 for reuse or storage; green hydrogen is produced via electrolysis using renewable electricity to split water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen.
