SABIC joins Teesside carbon capture collective
9 Jun 2016
Teesside Collective has added another industrial heavyweight to its group of companies working to decarbonise industry, with the addition of SABIC.
The Saudi Arabian company is one of the world’s largest makers of chemicals, fertilisers and plastics, and has operations at Wilton and North Tees.
Teesside Collective is a cluster of organisations aiming to establish the region as the go-to location for clean industrial development and the UK’s first Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) equipped industrial zone.
SABIC’s recent work on carbon re-use in Saudi Arabia has shown us first-hand the feasibility of Teesside Collective’s vision and the benefits that realising income streams can bring
John Bruijnooge, SABIC’s Teesside site director
The collective currently comprises BOC, Lotte Chemical UK, CF Fertilisers and Sembcorp Utilities UK, Tees Valley Unlimited and the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC).
SABIC will bring with it expertise in operating the world’s largest carbon dioxide (CO2) utilisation plant in Saudi Arabia, where it compresses around 1,500 tonnes of raw CO2 per day from its glycol plants to make urea and methanol.
“We are excited to join Teesside Collective,” said John Bruijnooge, site director of SABIC’s Teesside operations.
“SABIC’s recent work on carbon re-use in Saudi Arabia has shown us first-hand the feasibility of Teesside Collective’s vision and the benefits that realising income streams can bring.”
The government’s decision to scrap a large-scale £1bn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) competition last year was considered a huge blow for heavy industry in the UK. It was widely expected that ventures such as Teesside would piggyback off the infrastructure built with this investment.
However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has recently pledged to provide some funding to the Collective to support its initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes through CCS, carbon usage, hydrogen production and other technologies.
Neil Kenley, director of business investment at Tees Valley Combined Authority, said: “SABIC is the second new industrial partner to join Teesside Collective in the last six months.
“We are determined to drive forward with our vision of a sustainable and prosperous future for the UK, based on the advantages and cost-effectiveness of collaboration with other similar clusters up and down the East Coast.”
