A consortium of steelmakers, oil refineries, chemical plants, and the Royal Mint is planning to cut the carbon emissions of South Wales’s industrial cluster to zero by 2040. The region currently emits 16 million tonnes of CO₂ annually—5% of the UK’s total—with 10 million tonnes coming directly from industry and 6 million from power generation. Without intervention, these heavy industries will continue to produce the steel, cement, and refined fuels that underpin UK infrastructure, but at a growing climate cost. The project aims to solve that tension by designing practical routes to decarbonisation that keep factories running and jobs intact. If successful, the cluster could protect more than 103,000 existing jobs while positioning Wales as a global hub for green industrial expertise. The plan includes deploying hydrogen as a clean fuel and building carbon capture and storage as an interim measure. It also seeks to create symbiotic links between industry, cities, transport, and farming—so that waste heat, CO₂, or hydrogen from one site becomes a resource for another. The result would be lower-carbon steel and cement for UK construction, and a replicable blueprint for other industrial regions.
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The South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) is a diverse mix of critical industry from the Pembrokeshire coastline to the Welsh/English border. They have converged with common objectives for decarbonisation and clean growth. Some of the sectors represented include: §Steel making§Oil Refining§Power§Nickel manufacturing§Insulation manufacturing§Chemical§LNG import§The Royal Mint§Whole host of general manufacturing SWIC Deployment will create pathways and opportunities to promote Wales as a leading global player in decarbonised industrial and economic growth. SWIC's goal is Net Zero Carbon (NZC) by 2040\. Regional CO2 emissions are 16 million tonnes annually (5% of UK total), comprising 10 million tonnes direct from industry and 6 million tonnes from power generation. Achieving NZC will provide a significant contribution to the UK's goal of becoming net zero by 2050\. NZC must be realised in the broader context of "People, Planet and Profit". This will be achieved through sustainable clean growth, within a globally-competitive market, maintaining a growing and diverse industrial sector region, which will potentially protect 103,000+ existing jobs. There is potential to grow this number through export of skills and services globally, from a centre of green excellence. SWIC will devise options to support regional hydrogen deployment and to develop Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (as an interim measure). It will nurture symbiosis between industry, cities/towns, transport, and agriculture. It will appraise solutions and select those that have the greatest impact to economic CO2 emission reduction. Deployment will define Partner project scopes to support investment decisions that will advance projects towards construction. The pooled expertise of the deployment Partners and broader SWIC membership will ensure arrival at the best solutions for deriving significant carbon reduction. SWIC, through ongoing engagement, is actively supported by Welsh Government. There is also support for SWIC by local authorities, which aim to ensure that they can provide the necessary jobs to protect the future of their communities. SWIC is actively working with other UK cluster regions to optimise decarbonisation outcomes. SWIC Deployment will provide the UK with lower carbon steel and reduced carbon cement products that form the backbone of the wider UK Infrastructure Industry. RWE is leading the project, supported by a wide breadth of key Partners. Phase 2 represents an opportunity to integrate efforts, reinforce a direction and to further scope/define the action required to achieve the SWIC vision.
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