Kemsley cluster receives portion of £6m net zero fund

The opportunity is co-funded by Innovate UK and follows the consortium’s application for a portion of a £6 million fund aimed at supporting the government’s drive towards net zero through investment into Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans (LIDP).

Near Sittingbourne, the Kemsley cluster made up of MVV Environment Ridham, enfinium, Knauf UK & Ireland, DS Smith Paper and Heathcote Holdings, covers a range of industrial processes including power and heat generation and recycling and waste disposal.

The cluster has operated as a partnership for over 10 years, finding ways to share resources, material, waste and by-products. The funding builds on this work by the cluster as well as the University of Kent.

Joint carbon reduction strategy

The partners will use the LIDP funding to develop a joint carbon reduction strategy, based on modelling of current and future energy requirements, and assessing potential carbon reduction solutions across the cluster.

The strategy, due to be published by the end of 2024, will acknowledge the challenges as well as the opportunities, with a commitment to sharing findings with similar industrial clusters in the UK and overseas.

As well as informing the future of the cluster, the findings will also feed into Innovate UK and the government’s understanding of how they can assess and support these initiatives in the most effective way.

As the programme lead, Mace is responsible for the overall project management, and will oversee the development of the long-term roadmap and business case, investment planning, stakeholder engagement and knowledge transfer.

The University of Kent will provide valuable modelling and simulation insight, while the industrial partners will offer decades of ‘real life’ experience of the challenges the strategy seeks to overcome.

Rachel O’Donnell, director for resilience at Mace, said: “The LIDP for the Kemsley Industrial Cluster will lay the foundations for a long-term carbon reduction vision, not only at this site but at other clusters across the UK and Europe. A commitment among all partners to pursue data-backed best practice and then share the findings in the interest of environmental betterment underpins our approach and makes for an exciting prospect in and beyond North Kent.

“It’s an exciting prospect for Mace too. Delivering infrastructure that is fit for the future and aligned to the nation’s net zero ambitions matters to us, and this collaborative initiative falls firmly within that category.”