Phillips 66, Uniper and VPI have entered into a memorandum-of-understanding to co-develop Humber Zero, a large scale decarbonisation project that is fully aligned with the wider Humber Industrial Decarbonisation Deployment Project (Humber DP). Initially, Humber Zero will decarbonise 8Mt per annum of CO2 emissions, with the potential to target 30Mt of CO2 emissions from the wider Humber Cluster to the west of Immingham. This is in line with the UK government's 2050 Net Zero objectives and will position the Humber at the forefront of the UK's zero-carbon economy.

Humber Zero has already secured support from Innovate UK and intends to be operational by the mid-2020s.It is the most effective means of rapidly reducing the region's industrial emissions, through the decarbonisation of the Phillips 66 and the Immingham power plant, which serves it. Post combustion capture on two of the three existing generators at the VPI Immingham Power Plant and selected processing units at the Humber refinery, 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 with an economy worth £18 billion GVA and in which one in ten jobs is associated with heavy industry. It is home to one third of the UK's refining capacity. The scale of industry in the region makes the Humber 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 deep-water Immingham port will enable the creation of a CO2 exporting industry and enable the decarbonisation of a major UK port.

Humber Zero is supported by the expertise of the Wood Group, Imperial College, London and the University of Sheffield and is part of Innovate UK's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund competition in support of delivering 2050 Net Zero objectives. The project was funded by the ISCF programme, and the partners have planned the second stage which progresses the Humber Zero project into FEED in 2021 as part of the wider Humber Deployment Project.