The global leader in consulting and engineering Wood has been awarded a contract for the Humber Zero project in the UK. The project is a hybrid carbon capture and storage (CCUS) system and hydrogen hub.
Wood will be in charge of overseeing different aspects of the project’s development, including also the integration of the designs in the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) packages. Furthermore, the company will also provide assistance to two of the project partners, Vitol’s VPI Immingham power plant and the Phillips 66 Humber Refinery via the EPC contractor tendering process and by delivering FEED.
The aim of Humber Zero is essentially the industrial decarbonization of the Immingham complex. Its estimated CO2 capture capacity is said to be as high as 8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
This is the equivalent of roughly two-thirds of Humber’s annual 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. In turn, the captured emissions are to be stored in an offshore CO2 storage site not far from the hub itself.
Project Director, Jonathan Briggs, deems Wood’s appointment to be a significant step in the project, but also on its way to becoming the UK’s “gateway carbon capture project”. Furthermore, Humber Zero’s importance is emphasized by the fact that CCS is part of the Government’s Green Industrial Revolution 10-point plan aimed at removing 10 million tons of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions per annum by 2030.
Wood, as outlined by its President of Process & Chemicals, Giuseppe Zuccaro, is also very excited about the prospect of working on the Humber Zero project. As a company whose primary focus is moving the global energy transition forward, this would be a “milestone” project that could potentially even serve as a model for the decarbonization of the industry on a global scale.
And seeing as how Humber Zero’s roadmap sees the hybrid hub producing hydrogen in addition to capturing CO2, it may be in a position to provide energy supply for industry, as well.
