3Strategic solutions within and beyond industrial clusters Industrial clusters can accelerate the deployment of clean energy infrastructure by collectively aggregating demand, mitigating risks and streamlining collaborative efforts. Strong policy signals provide a fundamental basis for the acceleration of clean energy technologies and infrastructure, particularly in the early stages of emerging technologies. The establishment of long-term policy frameworks supports investors in de-risking business models and deploying capital. However, industry players must act in parallel, innovating and collaborating to share risk and advance new business models. Industrial clusters provide a natural foundation to facilitate this collaboration, stimulate the flow of capital, and expedite the development of clean power and clean fuels infrastructure through economies of scale, shared risk, and aggregation and optimization of demand. Each cluster offers unique benefits driven by local context, location and the makeup of its members – whether specializing in the production of clean power, specific clean fuels, serving as pivotal global trade hubs (port based and/or inland) and/or hosting major heavy industries. Beyond industrial clusters, addressing the infrastructure challenge requires collaboration among various stakeholders across the entire clean energy value chain. This encompasses critical nodes such as production sites, port ecosystems and industrial clusters, as well as the logistics between them. Solutions should be explored at local, regional and international levels, with clusters and their value chains eventually integrating into a global clean energy network. For example, initiatives such as the First Movers Coalition (FMC) have kickstarted a drive to aggregate demand across industrial and transport sectors, generating $16 billion in demand for near-zero-carbon goods and services. This will help scale the next generation of emission mitigation solutions for carbon-intensive sectors by 2030.37 Each cluster offers unique benefits driven by local context, location and the makeup of its members. Brightlands Circular Space Image credit: Brightlands Chemelot Campus Unleashing the Full Potential of Industrial Clusters: Infrastructure Solutions for Clean Energies 10

Unleashing the Potential of Industrial Clusters 2025