Associated British Ports, the UK’s leading ports group and its partners, Plug and Play, a world-renowned innovation platform, have seen record attendance at their inaugural EVA Humber Innovation Day in Hull.

Organised as part of ABP’s Energy Ventures Accelerator (EVA) programme, the event welcomed many stakeholders across businesses, academia, local councils and other partner organisations in the Humber region. This follows an EVA Inclusive Energy event organised in October this year, which provided a forum to discuss how businesses can work together to champion more inclusive growth and support founders and investors from under-represented backgrounds.

Addressing a packed audience at the Aura Innovation Centre, Max Harris, ABP Head of Strategy & Sustainability, said: “Through our EVA programme, ABP is on a mission to enable clusters of innovative ventures in the UK’s most important industrial hubs.

“We’re excited to foster these innovation ecosystems around our ports – whether that’s by direct investment or through facilitating connections across our network and it’s fantastic to see so many join us for the first step of this journey.”

As the UK’s energy estuary, the country’s biggest gateway for trade by volume and the home of four of ABP’s ports – Immingham, Grimsby, Hull and Goole – the Humber is central to the energy transition. Handling over £80 billion of trade every year, together with its partners, ABP supports over 90,000 jobs in the broader Humber and Yorkshire region.

Championing the unique benefits of the region, Diana Taylor, Managing Director of Future Humber, shared the “seven wonders of the Humber” and eloquently set out the case for why the region “is more than a place – it’s a powerhouse of change”.

“From its location at the heart of European trading routes to its leading infrastructure and connectivity and of course its secret weapon – the people, the Humber is the place to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.”

“The EVA Humber Innovation Day truly showcased the pioneering spirit driving change, and we’re especially proud of the resourcefulness shown by the organisers in involving students from Healing Academy and Ron Dearing UTC, inspiring the next generation of leaders.”, she said.

A further highlight during the day was a panel discussion titled ‘Ports and Partners: Enabling innovation at scale on the Humber’, moderated by ABP Group Head of Business Development, Ralph Windeatt and featuring Richard Gwilliam, Chair of the Humber Energy Board and Programme Director at Drax, Simon Green, CEO of the Humber Freeport and Phillips 66’s Humber decarbonisation manager, Duncan Hammond.

Speaking on the panel, Simon Green, CEO of the Humber Freeport, said: “When looking at the best models to support startups and incubators, you can’t look past the triple helix approach – that is industry, government and academia working collaboratively together.

“Humber Freeport is keen to be seen as a gateway for companies looking to access knowledge transfer, networks and funding streams. We also have the sites across the Humber which provide a range of incentives for investors and several of ABP’s locations fall within these areas.”

ABP’s port estate provides a wide variety of strategic locations at the heart of industrial hubs, often benefiting from Freeport status. There are also opportunities outside the port boundaries, including a 182 ha prime development site at Humber International Enterprise Park– one of the largest development sites in Europe – and a 200+ acre Stallingborough Interchange site. Several of these locations benefit from Freeport status.

Richard Gwilliam, Chair of the Humber Energy Board and UK BECCS Programme Director at Drax, added: “As we work to find the solutions to some of the toughest challenges related to the energy transition, it is essential that we make use of the skills and the expertise we already have here in the Humber, whilst growing the region’s presence on a global stage.”

Following the panel discussion, the audience also heard from six clean energy startups, who presented their products and propositions on stage. These included:

• HiiROC – Hull-based clean hydrogen producer
• Hyme – scalable molten salt storage technology startup
• C-Capture – startup offering solvent-based technology to remove carbon dioxide from emissions
• Seabound – startup offering onboard carbon capture technology using carbonate pebbles
• Rondo Energy – startup turning low-cost, intermittent electricity into heat
• Rux Energy – startup creating advanced nanoporous materials for hydrogen storage.

During his presentation, Tim Davies, Chief Executive Officer at HiiROC, said: “We are delighted to be here today at the very venue where we started our journey in Hull in 2020 – the Aura Innovation Centre – and many thanks to ABP and Plug and Play for bringing such a vibrant community of innovators together.”

“As a growth company, we are focused on commercialising our technology. Two of the key components we need to help achieve our goals are access to strategic locations and sufficient space for manufacturing. We are excited to work with ABP to help unlock solutions in relation to both of these aspects.”