Unlocking carbon capture schemes is vital for The Humber's economic future: Graeme Davies
The Humber region stands on the brink of economic transformation, driven by its historic legacy as the country’s Energy Estuary, its strategic position as a critical port hub and Freeport, its rapid evolution into a renewable energy powerhouse and its potential to become a world leader in industrial decarbonisation through the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen.
The region contributes £27 billion in GVA annually to the UK economy. The Humber is the only region with access to two key CCS projects connecting to separate stores in bthe southern North Sea: Viking CCS and Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP). With both, the Humber region presents an exciting opportunity for the build out of CCS networks.
It is also the region with the most to lose if government decisions continue to be delayed. The Humber emits more CO2 than any other UK industrial cluster, it has the geography to store captured carbon at scale, and it has a workforce already experienced in engineering and largeinfrastructure delivery. Delay is no longer a choice, it is a long-term disadvantage.
By working together now to re-energise the Humber, CCS can turn the region’s greatest potential into a transformational competitive advantage.
The Humber emits 50 per cent more than the UK’s next largest industrial hub, accounting for over 4 per cent of UK emissions alone, driven by refineries, chemicals, steel, power generation, and manufacturing. No other region combines such a concentration of hard-to-abate sectors in such a compact geography. Without CCS, these industries will face higher costs, weaker competitiveness and, ultimately, risk disinvestment. The Humber’s economic future depends on giving heavy industry a route to stay, grow and compete in a lowercarbon world.
The Humber is located next to the Southern North Sea, one of Europe’s best geological CO2 storage basins. Decades of offshore oil and gas activity have already mapped the reservoirs, built the pipelines, and proven subsurface integrity. In many cases, the same geological formations that held hydrocarbons securely for millions of years are now being repurposed to store CO2. The region could store not just its own emissions but potentially also those of other UK and European industrial clusters. Few places globally have this combination of proximity, capacity, and existing infrastructure which can evolve to take on this new challenge.
The Humber’s workforce and supply chain is already experienced in heavy engineering, petrochemicals, power generation, and complex project delivery. These are the capabilities required for CCS. Now is the time to give certainty to the projects that can create further opportunities.
Action must be taken now:
1. Progress Humber CCS projects by sequencing emitters (2026). The region’s CCS projects need a clear pathway for pipeline infrastructure, capture projects, and offshore storage to unlock investment and progress towards final investment decisions in this Parliament.
2. Mobilise the supply chain and workforce (2026 onward) We must continue to support training and skills providers like CATCH to align training, apprenticeships, and local procurement strategies, ensure we have the workforce available when it’s needed most and avoid expanding a skills gap which already exists across these sectors.
3. Present the Humber as a future CO2 import hub (2027 onward) Alongside domestic pipeline capture, the region should look to attract international emitters seeking storage, in particular from EU Member States —turning CCS into a transformational economic opportunity.
The Humber can become Europe’s leading lowcarbon industrial cluster, securing jobs, investment, and longterm competitiveness. Or it can watch as other regions—at home and abroad—capture the economic upside of decarbonisation.
CCS does not claim to be a silver bullet for the energy transition, but for the Humber it is the foundation on which we retain the proud industrial legacy and support an economically vibrant transition pathway.
The region has the emissions profile that demands it, the geography that enables it, and the skills that make it deliverable. What CCS needs now is momentum.
Graeme Davies is EVP CCS for Harbour Energy and a Humber Energy Board member