The Yorkshire and Humber projects set to play key role in turning UK into 'clean energy superpower'

The UK government has a target to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, with the aim of limiting global warming and resultant climate change.

Yorkshire and the Humber will play a critical role in this agenda as a hotspot for the green economy. The region attracted £700m in private investment in 2024 and includes significant companies like Siemens Gamesa, which installed over 2 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity.

There are numerous projects in the region designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security.

In February this year, the Immingham Green Energy Terminal was granted development consent by the secretary of state for transport.

Developed by Associated British Ports (ABP), the project comprises a new liquid bulk import terminal and associated processor to deliver a green hydrogen production facility.

The first customer would be Air Products importing green ammonia from its production locations around the world. The facility would produce up to 300 MW of green hydrogen and create 1,400 jobs and £4.6bn in economic value in the Humber estuary.

Uniper has submitted a planning application to North Lincolnshire Council to construct an electrolytic hydrogen facility at its Killingholme site. Humber H2ub (Green) will produce up to 120 megawatts (MW), with the potential for future expansion. The hydrogen would be used to replace some refinery fuel gas in industrial scale-fired heaters.

A proposed hydrogen production facility in Bradford has taken a step forward with an agreement signed between the government and N-Gen Energy Solutions and Hygen Energy.

The contract, called a Low Carbon Hydrogen Agreement, provides the scheme with government subsidies to enable the hydrogen produced to be sold at a rate which is comparable to fossil fuels, such as diesel, for 15 years.

The production facility and fuelling station, to be built off Bowling Back Lane in Bradford, is set to provide companies and operators of heavy vehicles in the area with access to hydrogen from 2027.

Renewable energy company Aukera has secured approval for a battery energy facility, located between the Osbaldwick sub-station and the A64 in York.

Once operational, the facility will store electricity and release it at peak times, helping to reduce power wastage, ease pressure on the national grid and improve energy resilience in the region.

Planning approval has been granted for an East Yorkshire solar farm that could power up to 18,000 homes and support the creation of 245 jobs.

Enviromena Project Management UK, supported by Stantec, submitted a planning application to East Riding of Yorkshire Council last year for development on 125 acres of land at Daisy Hill Farm in Burstwick.

The plans cover the installation of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic arrays together with ancillary infrastructure and landscaping and biodiversity enhancements. The solar farm could save the equivalent of 10,240 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to fossil fuel sources.

Rolls-Royce-SMR has also South Yorkshire as the site of its new multimillion pound facility, where it will manufacture and test prototype modules. Rolls-Royce was selected as the preferred bidder to build the country’s first SMRs in collaboration with Great British Energy - Nuclear, as part of the government’s industrial strategy.

‘SMRs’ are tiny power plants that produce electricity using nuclear energy. They are quicker to build than traditional nuclear plants, with costs likely to come down as units are rolled out.

Rolls-Royce has said that SMRs can play a key role in reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels, but has warned that delays in government decisions may cause the UK to miss out on important supply chain development, meaning that other countries could establish a competitive advantage in SMR tech.

Meanwhile, The Humber aims to provide 35 per cent of the UK’s total offshore wind capacity - at least 13.8 GW - by 2030.

Leading power generator RWE Group is marking ten years in 2025 since the official opening of the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm, located 8 km off the East Yorkshire coast.

Humber Gateway’s 73 turbines can collectively generate up to 219 MW of electricity, enough to power up to 199,000 typical UK homes.

RWE is also responsible for operating the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm from the Grimsby Docks, as well as the construction of the Sofia offshore wind farm and the development of a further two offshore wind farms on Dogger Bank in the North Sea.

Once fully operational in what is expected to be the second half of 2026, the Grimsby Hub will be the operations base for Triton Knoll and Sofia as well as hosting RWE’s Centralised Control Room (CCR), where technicians will oversee the operation of the vast majority of the company’s UK offshore portfolio.

“The Humber is very lucky to have some fantastic Victorian port infrastructure that was underutilised and became even more available when the fishing industry departed,” says David Laister, director at Humber Marine and Renewables, a trade association for the region’s maritime and offshore sectors.

“If you look around the port of Grimsby and Immingham, there are huge facilities that can handle almost any vessel required by the industry. Then you’ve got Hull where an entire new port has been refurbished and developed to deal with the blade manufacture and assembly works. We’re blessed with great infrastructure on the doorstep of what I’m reliably told by the crown estate are some of the best conditions to build wind farms in the near North Sea.”