Seven-strong consortium to drive low carbon industrial initiative

Mace, the international consultancy and construction company, has announced its involvement in the development of a decarbonisation strategy for an industrial cluster in North Kent. 

This opportunity to drive positive environmental change is co-funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, and follows the consortium’s successful application for a portion of a £6million fund aimed at supporting the UK Government’s drive towards net zero through investment into Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans (LIDP).

Located near Sittingbourne, North Kent, the Kemsley cluster – comprising of MVV Environment Ridham, enfinium, Knauf UK & Ireland, DS Smith Paper and Heathcote Holdings – covers a wide range of industrial processes, including power and heat generation, manufacturing, logistics, recycling and waste disposal. 

For over a decade, the cluster has operated in partnership to explore opportunities to share resources, materials, waste and by-products for mutual benefit. This, combined with its location on The Swale, and proximity to nearby logistics businesses, energy producers and energy users, make it ideal for decarbonisation and create regional and national impact, in line with government objectives.

This funding builds on the work already undertaken by the cluster and University of Kent in assessing the initial collective demand and supply for energy and resources in the area, acknowledging the limited energy, heat and resource sharing programmes to date. By partnering with Mace and University of Kent, the cluster will expand on this to consider its application in the context of industrial decarbonisation.

Together, 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 provide a collective vision for change, acknowledging 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.”