CCS: Unlocking the Humber’s potential

VPI is a leading power company with a capacity of 3.5GW across the UK & Ireland. Our role is to anticipate challenges that emerge in the energy transition and act to solve them.

The Opportunity

This year offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn the Humber region into a global leader in clean energy, while maintaining its existing, thriving industries.

One of the technologies success hinges on is carbon capture and storage – the only decarbonisation option for the region’s hard-to-abate sectors, and a crucial technology for the UK’s energy security.

But in a time of fiscal constraint the government must choose CCS projects wisely and prioritise those with the cheapest, quickest and lowest risk pathway to decarbonisation and economic growth.

Humber Zero

Our power plant project in Immingham, known as Humber Zero, is the first proposed emitter for the Viking CCS cluster.

It provides several benefits – some of which are unique compared to other carbon capture projects – that can help the government meet its economic growth and clean power goals.

Humber Zero site in the early morning

What sets this project apart?

Humber Zero with two engineers

Significant private investment and jobs

VPI is ready to commit £1.5 billion, creating 1500 construction phase jobs within this parliament. The broader Viking CCS cluster would unlock £13bn of investment creating 20,000 jobs at peak construction. And we would use a mainly British supply chain, creating a halo effect.

  • £1.5bn Investment
  • 1.5k Jobs created within the construction period within this parliament
  • 20k Jobs across the wider Humber cluster at peak construction
Engineer on Gantree

Value for money and deliverability

Our project is a retrofit, which means it is applying CCS technology to an existing plant. This is cheaper and quicker than building a power plant from scratch. Nationally, CCS makes reaching clean power by 2030 cheaper and more deliverable for consumers than relying on renewables alone. Together with the Track 1 projects already in train, our plant would come very close to providing the power required to deliver this.

With a focus on consumer bills, this should make its prompt deployment a priority. In addition, Viking CCS is less complex to build than other clusters. It only requires a 50km pipeline to be built, the depleted gas fields already exist, and the T&S network is next door to the first emitters.

Humber Zero, at a distance with sun behind clouds

Scale

CCS isn’t just about cutting emissions - it’s about strengthening the UK’s competitive edge and attracting the growth industries of the future. Becoming a hub for low carbon, reliable and flexible power could help attract data centres to support the AI industry as well as help nurture the advanced manufacturing industries already being pioneered in the area such as EV batteries and sustainable aviation fuel.

And with the UK’s largest port included in the Viking CCS cluster, it opens up a carbon storage export opportunity to continental emitters unlocking around £30bn in taxable revenues by 2050, according to the CCSA.

How can you help?

The government has said it wants to leave a legacy of economic growth that tackles regional inequality.

Viking CCS is a perfect case study, globally, for how a strategic, mission-driven government can effectively transition an industrial hub into a future powerhouse, in a just and meaningful way.

VPI is ready to help make this a reality. But we need a signal from government that this is going ahead. The next step is simple: select VPI as an anchor emitter project.