The Humber region, home to the UK’s largest concentration of CO2-emitting industries, sits at the heart of national net-zero ambitions.48 Its journey towards financing decarbonization projects involves multiple CCS, hydrogen and bioenergy ventures. Cluster structure and governance Unlike HyNet, the Humber “cluster” is defined more by geography than strict central governance. The Humber operates through two major “subclusters” – the Viking CCS project (led by Harbour Energy) and the East Coast Cluster – Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) and Net Zero Teesside Power (NTZP) – led by BP and Equinor. The East Coast Cluster covers the regions of the Humber and Teesside. Each infrastructure project controls its own pipeline and storage assets. While projects such as Drax (BECCS) and Phillips 66 (combined power and heat plant) are exploring the option to connect to both, capacity limits dictate the extent to which there can be complete integration across projects. This multi-operator arrangement can create complexities when considering how best to optimize project links and network flows but also has potential to broaden financing opportunities. The region is served by both Track 1 (East Coast Cluster/NEP) and Track 2 (Viking CCS), with significant government support committed to accelerate business model maturation, lower risk and enable FID on T&S and capture projects.49 Recognizing the challenge in managing such complexity, the Humber Energy Board (HEB) was established in 2024, to provide regional coordination, acting as a forum for infrastructure, policy and strategic “pan-cluster” questions that transcend single sub-cluster interests. Financing sources and structures To support early-stage project development, Humber received significant grant funding from UKRI’s Industrial Decarbonization Challenge fund.50 The IDC was a flagship initiative to accelerate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK’s most energy intensive industries. Launched in 2019, it was designed to support the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies and infrastructure in six major UK industrial clusters. Across NEP , the Zero Carbon Humber Partnership and Humber Zero, Humber received £58 million in grant funding which was matched with £78 million in devex from recipient organizations. In 2024, FID was reached to develop infrastructure for CCS projects across NEP and NTZP . This achievement highlights the power of cross cluster collaboration, with an £8 billion financing package being secured across a consortium of 21 commercial banks (including BBVA, ING and Mizuho) to split between the two. With Track 2 funding confirmed in June 2025 and government consent given for pipeline development in April 2025, FID is also expected for Viking CCS.51 Drax is targeting FID in 2026 for its BECCS power unit.52 This £3 billion investment from the company will have the capacity to produce around 2 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity from sustainable biomass, alongside capacity to capture around 3 Mt of CO2 per year. However, a key component to unlocking long-term private investment in large-scale projects such as BECCS and CCS in the Humber (and more broadly) is the development of credible carbon dioxide removal (CDR) markets. Projects need to be able to sell CDR credits on voluntary markets to ensure the use of permanent CO2 storage is commercially beneficial long term. This requires the presence of markets that organizations can “forward sell” into, to support project bankability. In addition to advances in CCS, the Humber region is also seeing increased investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technologies. This acceleration is supported by the UK’s Advanced Fuels Fund, a major government initiative dedicated to scaling- up production of low-carbon fuels. The fund provides grant funding for FOAK commercial and demonstration-scale projects in the UK.53 The third window of awards in July 2025 saw five Humber based organizations receive funding out of the total 17 grants awarded.54Humber From Blueprint to Reality: A Stronger Business Case for Shared Energy Infrastructure 38

From Blueprint to Reality 2026