Worley has been appointed to conduct the front end engineering and design on Humber Zero - the carbon capture plan for Immingham’s industrial cluster.
It is the third major win on the Humber for the international giant, having also taken similar roles with Drax Power Station and Velocys’ green jet fuel plant.
The multi-billion pound investment, just submitted to the government’s latest competitive bidding process, aims to prevent up to eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually. It has been brought forward by Phillips 66 and VPI Immingham, the company behind the Humber Refinery and the energy that powers it.
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The appointment, to deliver for the latter, is described as a major step forward.
VPI Humber Zero project director, Jonathan Briggs, said: “Worley has extensive expertise and experience in delivering the critical phases of major projects and their appointment as FEED contractors for our part of Humber Zero demonstrates rapid progress in the development of this project.
“Decarbonisation will be an essential element of the UK Government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and CCS will be central to achieving those targets. That is why Innovate UK matched industry investment announced in the spring to help give this project a major boost.”
The work, to be carried out by the UK teams, will define the project scope, identify equipment and infrastructure needs, and set out a more detailed timeline for work.
Bradley Andrews, president at Worley, said: “This project is important to the decarbonisation journey of the South Humber Bank in the UK and our global expertise in CCUS centred in the UK will help VPI achieve its vision.
“Delivering a more sustainable world needs more than policy and discussion. We need decisive action and predictable project execution. Our hope is that this is just the start of the journey to help adapt existing assets and decarbonise industrial hubs.”
Worley was appointed at Drax in September, having picked up the Velocys contract for US and UK plants in February 2020.
Phillips 66 is currently working through the contractor appointment stage.
Humber Zero would see carbon captured from the combustion process at both the Humber Refinery and VPI Immingham compressed and exported by pipeline to secure storage deep under the North Sea. It sits across two storage opportunities, with the East Coast Cluster - a track one scheme with government off East Yorkshire and Teesside - and V Net Zero, the proposal to transform Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal and the existing pipeline through Lincolnshire.
A further phase of the project aims to produce hydrogen at scale for immediate use and fuel switching from natural gas to hydrogen to further decarbonise the cluster.
The Humber region currently represents more than 40 per cent of the UK’s industrial emissions and the project is seen as a key economic development, creating 2,500 jobs during construction, 200 permanent jobs and sustaining 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in evolving traditional industry on the South Humber Bank.
It is part of the Humber Industrial Cluster Plan, which sets out the region’s decarbonisation journey and was awarded £1.7 million.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, is investing £12.5m in the project, with that figure being matched by the Humber Zero partners.
US infrastructure giant Aecom was appointed in October to lead the consenting of the huge Humber Zero project.
