Humber Zero is a government-supported multi-billion-pound project to decarbonise industry in the Immingham industrial area in northern Lincolnshire. The project will incorporate post-combustion carbon capture and the production of hydrogen. The project aims to prevent up to eight million tonnes of CO2 from being released as a greenhouse gas.
In a statement, Jonathan Briggs, VPI project director for Humber Zero, said: “Industrial decarbonisation at scale using carbon capture and storage will be essential if the UK is to achieve its ambition of a Net Zero economy by 2050. Humber Zero’s goal of decarbonising the Immingham industrial site will capture up to eight million tonnes of carbon from critical industry and make a significant contribution to toward reaching that goal.”
Humber Zero: decarbonising an industrial cluster
CANSOLV will be retrofitted to the VPI Immingham power station stacks that emit carbon-rich flue gas. Shell’s Alliance partner for CANSOLV CO2 technology, Technip Energies, will support the design of the capture unit and the pilot plant. The technology is expected to capture 95 per cent or more of the CO2 in the gas, allowing it to be compressed, transported and stored in geological structures under the seabed.
“Shell’s CANSOLV CO2 Capture technology has been in operation since 2013, including in a large-scale, commercial, low-pressure application at SaskPower in Canada, where it is designed to capture up to 1 Mt/y of CO2,” said Andy Gosse, president, Shell Catalysts & Technologies. “This project with VPI Immingham will be a flagship project in the Humber and UK journey to Net Zero and will be an important front runner for the world of carbon capture and storage. A pilot campaign run at the VPI plant conducted with our partner Technip, will be a key next step in demonstrate the strength of the CANSOLV technology in capturing CO2 in natural gas fired power generation.”
VPI Immingham’s 1.2-gigawatt combined heat and power plant is located close to major heavy industry and provides power and heat for around 25 per cent of the UK’s refinery capacity, including the adjacent Phillips 66 Humber Refinery. CANSOLV will be retrofitted to two of the three gas-fired power generators at the power plant, which also provides up to five per cent of the peak power requirement for the National Grid.
Humber Zero’s industrial partners include Phillips 66 and energy company and trader Vitol.
UKRI, through the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, is investing £12.5m of government funding in the project, which has been matched by the Humber Zero partners VPI Immingham LLP and Phillips 66.
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