The Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HEY LEP) and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership have welcomed the Government’s announcement that the East Coast Cluster is one of its chosen first track 1 clusters.
The East Coast Cluster is a collaboration between Zero Carbon Humber, Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership, and aims to remove nearly 50% of all UK Industrial cluster CO2 emissions.
The ECC was named as a “Track-1” cluster in a written statement from Energy Minister Rt Hon Greg Hands MP, putting it on course for deployment by the mid-2020s.
James Newman, Chair of HEY LEP, said: “We are thrilled that the East Coast Cluster has been successful in its bid to become one of the UK’s first track 1 clusters, as announced by BEIS this week.
“This industrial decarbonisation project, a collaboration between Zero Carbon Humber, Net Zero Teesside and the Northern Endurance Partnership, aims to remove nearly 50% of all UK Industrial cluster CO2 emissions by tackling industry on the Humber and in Teesside. This fantastic partnership has the potential to make a significant impact on decarbonising industry across a large swathe of the North of England.
“We look forward to seeing this initiative develop with Government backing and will continue to support industrial decarbonisation as a LEP, through projects such as the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan, in order to support our key manufacturing industries while we work towards our goal of becoming Net Zero by 2040.”
Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, also welcomed the announcement.
“Clean growth and the development of an internationally significant green energy cluster in Greater Lincolnshire is one of our top priorities as a LEP,” he said.
“The ground-breaking Zero Humber Carbon project will capture and safely store up to eight million tonnes of CO2 per annum by the late 2020s.
“The announcement that the East Coast Cluster, of which Humber Zero Carbon is a part, will become one of the UK’s first track 1 clusters is excellent news and further confirmation of the strategic importance of the Humber region to the UK’s Net Zero strategy.
“We too look forward to the development of the additional decarbonisation opportunities that Humber Zero and V Net Zero Humber offer the region.”