East Coast Cluster

By its strength in diversity, the East Coast Cluster stands ready to
remove 50% of the UK’s industrial cluster CO2 emissions
, protect thousands of jobs and establish the region as a globally-competitive climate-friendly hub for industry and innovation

The UK needs to use every possible technology to green our economy. It must decarbonise industry to achieve its target of net zero emissions by 2050. And nearly half of carbon emissions from UK industrial clusters come from Britain’s historic engine room: Teesside and the Humber.

The East Coast Cluster is now actively bringing together communities, business, industry and academia to deliver the carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure needed to decarbonise this key industrial heartland of the UK.

Now selected as one of the first two carbon capture, usage and storage clusters to be taken forward by the UK government, the East Coast Cluster stands ready to remove almost 50% of the UK’s total industrial cluster CO2 emissions, protect thousands of jobs and establish the region as a globally competitive climate-friendly hub for industry and innovation.

The Cluster includes an unparalleled and diverse mix of low-carbon projects, including industrial carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen production, negative emissions power, and power with carbon capture. All these technologies, delivered by companies with unrivalled experience in successfully delivering ambitious and world changing projects, are essential for the UK to meet its net zero targets.

Britain’s historic engine room, The Humber and Teesside, will benefit from an influx of green jobs, skills development and supply chain benefits. The cluster aims to create and support an average of 25,000 jobs per year between 2023 and 2050.

Development of the East Coast Cluster is moving forward towards first commercial operations in 2027.

In March 2023, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) selected 3 East Coast Cluster projects – Net Zero Teesside Power, H2Teesside and Teesside Hydrogen CO2 Capture – who will connect first to the cluster by 2027.

DESNZ also announced that they will launch a process later in 2023 to enable further expansion of the East Coast Cluster, beyond the initial deployment, identifying and selecting projects for the East Coast Cluster – including from the Humber – to be operational by 2030. The East Coast Cluster aims to capture and store an average of around 23 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2035.

Latest news

Stay up to date on the latest news and developments from East Coast clusters

Read the latest




Consultation on infrastructure to unlock East Coast Cluster’s world leading Carbon Capture plans

Read more

East Coast Cluster economic benefits




Figures based on the 17 emitter projects submitted as part of phase-1 of UK Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process.

The East Coast Cluster will be enabled by the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), the partnership developing the common infrastructure needed to transport CO2 from emitters across the Humber and Teesside to secure offshore storage in the Endurance aquifer in the Southern North Sea.

The companies in the East Coast Cluster have unrivalled experience in successfully delivering ambitious and world changing projects.

There is an unparalleled and diverse mix of low-carbon projects in the East Coast Cluster, including industrial carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen production, negative emissions power, and power with carbon capture. All these technologies are essential for the UK to meet its net zero targets.

Working closely together with local communities, businesses, industry, and political leaders across the Humber and Teesside, we can take a huge step in the UK’s journey to net zero.

ECC Overview

Net Zero Teesside is a proposed Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) cluster, based in Teesside.

A CO2 gathering network, CO2 compression and the onshore section of a CO2 export pipeline on Teesside is proposed by the Northern Endurance Partnership, which will enable the capture, transportation and storage of CO2 from a range of carbon intensive businesses .

NZT could help protect up to 70% of existing jobs in heavy industry on Teesside, and enable many thousands of new, high quality opportunities. NZT aims to capture and store up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year, equivalent to the emissions associated with the annual energy use of up to 3 million homes in the UK.

To learn more about Net Zero Teesside, please visit netzeroteesside.co.uk

Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) is a partnership of leading companies and organisations united by a commitment to  decarbonise the UK’s largest emitting industrial region by 2040 … . [continued below]

through low carbon hydrogen, carbon capture and carbon removal technology, enabled by shared regional pipelines for hydrogen and carbon emissions and the common offshore NEP infrastructure.

With its first projects aiming to start up in the mid-2020s, ZCH aims to capture at least 17 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and supply up to 10 gigawatts of hydrogen in industry and power projects across the Humber by the mid-2030s. This could reduce the UK’s annual emissions by 15% and safeguard 55,000 existing jobs in the region, whilst creating thousands of new STEM roles and developing skills, apprenticeships and educational opportunities in the area.

To learn more about Zero Carbon Humber, please visit zerocarbonhumber.co.uk

Our vision for the East Coast Cluster

Andy Lane

Managing Director, Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership

“Together, as the East Coast Cluster, we are determined to make CCUS a reality in the UK and decarbonise a diverse region that represents almost 50% of carbon emissions from all UK clusters. We stand ready to support the UK, as President of COP26, in showing global leadership and building momentum in the energy transition through innovation and exciting green jobs, positioning the UK as a leader in the emerging global low-carbon and hydrogen market.”

Sir Paul Ennals

CBE (Convening Chair of NEECCo)

“If we want to achieve net zero in the North East, we need carbon capture as a key part of that strategy - and the East Coast Cluster proposals provide a way of doing that. 200 years ago, the North East engineers released the genie of coal into the world. Now, 200 years on, the North East engineers have the opportunity through the ECC to lead the nation’s response to the climate emergency.“

Emma Hardy

Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle

“It’s time for the UK to match its ambitions with its policies and projects to tackle climate change. I’m delighted that Humber and Teesside regions are working together to create an East Coast Cluster. By sharing storage 2 miles under the North Sea for their carbon emissions, we can cut emissions cost-effectively from an unparalleled range of projects.“

Project Timeline

October 2020

NEP is formed and submits bid for funding through UK Government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge

March 2021

NEP, NZT and ZCH consortia all awarded finding from UK Government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge

July 2021

Submission of East Coast Cluster bid into Track-1, Phase-1 of UK Government’s Cluster sequencing process, and public webinar

19 October 2021

East Coast Cluster selected in Track-1 of the UK Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process

21 January 2022

Individual decarbonisation projects within the East Coast Cluster submit bids into phase two of the Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process

22 March 2022

Phase-2 projects shortlisted

12th August 2022

14 projects within the cluster shortlisted to proceed to a due diligence stage

30 March 2023

DESNZ selected 3 projects for first connection to ECC by 2027. DESNZ committed to ECC expansion with details to be published late 2023

2024

Selected projects FID subject to commercial discussions with DESNZ on appropriate business model support

2027

First commercial operations for East Coast Cluster

Mid-2030s

The East Coast Cluster aims to capture and store an average 23mtpa of CO2 by 2035.

East Coast Cluster Carbon Capture Partners

Collaboration accelerates progress. The Northern Endurance Partnership was formed to develop the carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure to serve a diverse range of businesses in the Teesside and Humber regions.

View our partners

Contact

Thank you for showing an interest in the East Coast Cluster.

For all media inquiries please call 07825977265 or email Eastcoastcluster@hkstrategies.com

For inquiries related to Phase 2 of the BEIS sequencing process, please email Phase2@eastcoastcluster.co.uk

Please follow the Projects on Twitter (Zero Carbon Humber and Net Zero Teesside) and LinkedIn (Net Zero Teesside and Zero Carbon Humber) for news and developments.