Decarbonization Of Industrial Clusters Initiative Gains Global Momentum

Nine leading industrial clusters in China, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, and the United States have joined the World Economic Forum initiative, Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero, to help industries reduce emissions. 

Launched in 2021 and supported by Accenture and EPRI, the initiative focuses on reducing heavy industry asset emissions in regional industrial zones, while supporting job creation and increasing economic competitiveness. 

Industrial clusters account for 15%-20% of global CO2 emissions, making them an attractive target for emission reductions. Industries in the same general location benefit not only from sharing risk, infrastructure and natural resources but also from a united approach to tackle decarbonization along with workforce transformation and environmental justice. 

Industrial clusters are areas where companies, representing either a single or multiple industries, provide opportunities for scale, sharing of risk/resources, aggregation and optimization of demand.

The latest members of the initiative:

· Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, with projects in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) and San Roque (Cádiz), Spain, aims to implement the largest green hydrogen project in Andalusia that offers a solid electricity grid, abundant low-cost renewable production, high industrial consumption and good connections by road, rail, air and maritime transport

· Canary Islands Industrial Cluster, Spain, aims to become a hub for sustainable aviation and clean shipping by using the islands’ significant solar and wind energy generation

· Greater St Louis and Illinois Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Industrial Cluster, USA, a diverse group of industry, business and community groups and academic institutions collaborating to decarbonize the regional industrial sector and foster production and end-uses of hydrogen

· Indo-Pacific Net-zero Battery-Materials Consortium (INBC) in Indonesia, a cooperation to secure low-carbon battery materials from Indonesia to gigafactories in the UK and to launch the leading net-zero industrial park in Sulawesi

· Jababeka Net-Zero Industrial Cluster in Cikarang, Indonesia, includes various industries and the first publicly listed industrial cluster will focus on rooftop solar panels, biomass co-firing as a renewable substitute, organic waste management, circular manufacturing, electric mobility and hydrogen solutions

· Kawasaki Carbon Neutral Industrial Complex, Japan, with petroleum and chemicals at its core, as well as, steel and electric power industries, is pursuing hydrogen deployment, carbon recycling and the use of regional energy optimization

· National Capital Hydrogen Center, USA, helps to accelerate the clean energy transition of the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia region while supporting the regional and national imperative to deliver hydrogen solutions for US clean energy future

· Ordos-Envision Net Zero Industrial Park, China, integrates supply chains in Inner Mongolia for battery manufacturing and energy storage, electric vehicle, photovoltaic and green hydrogen equipment, features a high rate (>80%) of renewable penetration, a net-zero digital certification system and supports carbon neutrality for industries within the region

· Sanjiang New Area Industrial Park, China, aspires to achieve carbon neutrality across the local battery value chain by means of green electricity, intelligent energy management, sewage treatment and green transport, while leveraging the innovative experiences in zero-carbon factory and lighthouse factory of CATL’s Sichuan plant 

The new members join eight other initiative signatory clusters: Brightlands Circular Space, H2Houston Hub, Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Zero Carbon Humber, Hynet North West, Kwinana Industries Council, and the Basque Net-Zero Industrial Supercluster.

Combined, the new clusters add significant decarbonization potential, bringing the CO2 emissions of all the initiative’s members to 451 million metric tonnes emitted per year, comparable to the annual emissions of Turkey. The 17 members also contribute economically by employing more than 2.7 million people and represent an annual GDP contribution of $218 billion. 

“Kawasaki, which is located between Tokyo and Yokohama, is one of the largest industrial cities in Japan where we are working with companies to form a base for importing CO2-free hydrogen from overseas and create an area that will drive carbon neutrality in Japan,” said Norihiko Fukuda, Mayor of Kawasaki City. “I’m confident these efforts will be strongly accelerated by deepening collaboration with other clusters through the initiative.”

Industrial clusters are powerful drivers of innovation at scale and knowledge sharing. The expanded initiative community includes new greenfield operations, particularly a number of hydrogen clusters that are future-energy export hubs aimed at developing international green energy corridors. 

“Green hydrogen is the best low-carbon alternative for hard-to-abate sectors including industry and heavy transport,” said Maarten Wetselaar, CEO of Cepsa. “We see more and more customers keen to commit to green hydrogen consumption and southern Spain offers one of the best price points in Europe to produce it. Cepsa’s two projects in our Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, the largest green hydrogen hub in Europe, will help create a commercial construct to meet this demand, decarbonize local industry and begin to provide the scale Spain needs to become a net exporter of clean energy.” 

“Indo-Pacific Net-zero Battery-materials Consortium (INBC) will accelerate developments of battery gigafactories across the world. As we play our part in the end-to-end global EV supply chain – started with Indonesia and the UK – we will position INBC as the go-to alternative for ESG-processed nickel and battery materials. Collaboration is the key to a successful net-zero sustainability transition and hence we are very excited to be joining the Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net-zero initiative,” said Anindya Bakrie, Consortium Lead Representative of INBC and CEO of Bakrie & Brothers.

Building on these developments, the initiative has published its first report, Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero, and will host a number of public-private roundtables and regional workshops in 2023. These events will strengthen public-private collaboration and pursue further policy analysis beyond the recently published white paper, Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero: National Policy Enablement for Industrial Decarbonization.

“The nine new industrial cluster members add momentum to our programme and diversify the locations and types of industries seeking to accelerate their decarbonization, making our initiative truly global and comprehensive,” said Roberto Bocca, Head of the Platform for Energy, Materials and Infrastructure, World Economic Forum. “The programme now covers several heavy industries sectors in nine countries across four continents. We encourage other industrial estates and hubs to join us in helping reduce CO2 emissions faster by creating international public-private and cross-industry partnerships which enable implementation of low-carbon technologies.”