Representation by Associated British Ports (Associated British Ports)
- Date submitted
- 9 January 2024
- Submitted by
- Other statutory consultees
Planning Inspectorate Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol BS1 6PN Tuesday, 09 January 2024 To the Planning Inspectorate Planning Act (2008) as amended Relevant Representation made on behalf of Associated British Ports as promoter of application for development consent for Immingham Green Energy Terminal (“IGET”) in relation to the Viking CCS Pipeline Application (Planning Inspectorate Reference: EN070008) This representation is submitted on behalf of Associated British Ports (“ABP”) in respect of the application for development consent for the Viking CCS Pipeline (the “Viking CCS Project”). ABP wishes to register as an interested party in the Viking CCS Project Examination. ABP is promoting the application for development consent for IGET (the “IGET Application”). IGET comprises the alteration of a harbour facility for the construction, operation and maintenance of a multi-user terminal to facilitate the import and export of liquid bulks associated with the energy sector, together with associated development. The terminal includes a jetty and associated loading and unloading infrastructure and pipelines. IGET will be located in North East Lincolnshire, on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, to the east of the Port of Immingham, which is owned and operated by ABP as statutory harbour authority. Import of green ammonia is the first but not the only liquid bulk product for which IGET is designed – the terminal itself is designed as a common user terminal facility, providing port capacity for multiple customers, which are expected to include customers in the carbon capture and storage sector. IGET will have the capacity to support the import and export of a range of liquid bulk energy products, including liquefied carbon dioxide (“CO2”) to facilitate carbon capture and storage and connect into adjacent carbon transport and storage networks for sequestration in the North Sea. In line with national and local policy, including the National Policy Statement for Ports (“NPSfP”), the energy National Policy Statement (“NPS”) and draft Energy NPS, IGET will provide essential port infrastructure, capacity and resilience to support the growth and changing strategic needs of the energy sector, and will support decarbonisation within the Humber industrial cluster and wider geographic need. The Humber industrial cluster is one of the heaviest emitters of carbon dioxide in the country. In order to meet the Government’s legally binding 2050 net zero target, decarbonisation of the area is required. The NPSfP recognises that ports will play an integral role in supporting sustainable development through providing additional capacity for the development of renewable energy. Further, the draft Energy NPS identifies the urgent need for new CCS infrastructure to be developed, and the Government’s recognition that ports will be needed to enable the transfer of CO2 from onshore infrastructure onto ships. IGET therefore provides an appropriate solution to the established need for port infrastructure to support the transition to net zero and decarbonisation agenda. The Viking CCS Project consists of an underground pipeline which commences at a facility in the Immingham industrial area, receiving CO2 from industrial activity in Immingham and the surrounding area and transporting that CO2 to a repurposed pipeline and onwards to the sequestration site in the North Sea. The proposed Viking CCS Project is therefore in strategic proximity to IGET, and the main stated objective of the Viking CCS Project is “to connect emitters of CO2 located in the Immingham industrial area to the offshore geological stores under the North Sea to provide a long term storage of carbon dioxide” (see paragraph 6.4.13 of the Planning Design and Access Statement [APP-129]). ABP supports, in principle, the development of the Viking CCS project, and welcomes the potential both projects have towards furthering the goals of decarbonisation of the Humber industrial cluster and achieving the UK’s net zero goals, and wider contributions to sustainable development. Yours faithfully, Jack Thompson Planning & Consents Officer, Humber – Associated British Ports