From October 6 to 9, 2024, our colleague Katharina Rothhöft took part in the network meeting of the “Humber Industrial Cluster” in England. The event, organized by the CDI (Cluster Decarbonization of Industry), served to familiarize German network partners with British approaches to decarbonization.
As part of the EE4Ing2 project, Katharina took part in the event in the Humber region. The trip served to intensify the network and evaluate the transferability of the strategies applied in England to Germany. Various presentations and company visits were organized as part of the event.
On the first day of arrival, a short round of introductions took place in the evening. The following morning, the bus took us to the University of Hull, where lectures and panel discussions took place. The Humber Industrial Cluster was presented as part of a workshop. This highlighted both the strengths and challenges of the region faced by local companies and institutions. In addition, further research projects of the university were presented in the lectures. This was followed by panel discussions on the topics of “Use of hydrogen” and “Offshore wind energy”. Lunch was followed by a tour of the Saltend Chemicals Park and a visit to Siemens Gamesa, where blades for wind turbines are produced. The day ended with a joint dinner.
Further company visits were carried out on the second day. As part of the event, a further panel discussion was held at CATCH on the topic of integrated energy systems, the qualification of specialist personnel and the political framework for Net Zero in the UK. This was followed by a visit to the Phillips 66 oil refinery, which is currently building a carbon capture plant to capture CO2 emissions. On the last day, the program included a visit to the former DRAX coal-fired power plant, which uses wood chips to generate electricity. DRAX was the largest coal-fired power station in England with an output of around 4 GW and, following conversion, is now the largest biomass power station in the world (around 2.6 GW installed electrical output).
The trip provided valuable insights into decarbonization strategies in England and showed which approaches could potentially also be applied in Germany. We would like to thank the CDI for organizing the event and “future humber” for their support. We look forward to incorporating the knowledge gained into our projects at the IOB. We would also like to thank Olly Burdett for providing the photos.
Further information can be found here:
- CDI: Information about the cluster
- Humber Industrial Cluster: What is the HICP?
- Humber Energy Vision: The future of energy in the Humber region