Exploitation Plan

The Exploitation Plan details stakeholder actions from 2025 to 2029 to achieve Net Zero by 2040.

Executive Summary

The exploitation plan sets out how the project’s findings will be used to inform future decision-making and unlock opportunities that accelerate progress towards Net Zero across the estate.

Dalton Industrial Estate is a multi-business estate in North Yorkshire, currently comprising around 25 businesses of large industrial users and other smaller businesses. The development of the Decarbonisation Plan has been conducted through the convergence of outcomes, recommendations and data from five work packages; Heat, Power, Transport, Circular Economy, and Natural Capital.

WSP were instructed to develop a Decarbonisation Plan by collating findings from five work packages which were completed by independent consultants as part of the previous phases of the project. The findings have been reviewed to identify co-dependencies and collaborative opportunities that ultimately aim to facilitate the Estate’s efforts to achieve Net Zero by 2040.

This resulted in WSP developing this Decarbonisation Plan, comprising of three key outputs; an Exploitation Plan, Cluster Plan and Dissemination Plan. Holistically, the three elements of this Decarbonisation Plan will facilitate the development and implementation of a decarbonisation strategy for the Dalton Industrial Estate to reduce carbon emissions across a variety of activities on-site.

The purpose of these elements are;

Exploitation Plan

A detailed Exploitation Plan, which details the first five years of the cluster strategy to provide granular information on the measures and actions required by the collaborating businesses to initiate the delivery of the Decarbonisation Plan. The Exploitation Plan also includes Appendices detailing business specific opportunities for each of the businesses’ implementation strategies.

Cluster Plan

A Cluster Plan, which aims to provide a framework and visual representation of timescales, actions and interventions developed by each of the work packages which will align with the overarching objective to transition to Net Zero by 2040.

View Cluster Plan Report

Dissemination Plan

A Dissemination plan, which aims to demonstrate how learnings from the project will be gathered and disseminated to all parties, to drive the mechanisms for implementation of the Decarbonisation Plan.

View Dissemination Plan Report

Timeframe

Key Exploitation Plan Milestones

2025

2025 is focused on laying a strong foundation for long-term progress and fostering collaboration and accountability across the Estate through the establishment of a Sustainability Committee and assigning actions to individuals.

The Committee should be comprised of Sustainability Coordinators from each business, bringing the Estate together, and supported by Sustainability Champions to inspire staff to engage with sustainable practices. Bringing together businesses from across the Estate will be fundamental to achieving Net Zero by 2040. Whilst a baseline for each of the work packages has been estimated, all businesses should calculate and report on their baseline and projected future Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption, transport use and waste. This would provide a more detailed understanding of key hotspots of high associated emissions, enabling targeted decarbonisation efforts and the development of detailed strategies for each business and ultimately the entire Estate. This would also establish the extent to which a grid capacity upgrade is required for Estate development and increased electrification due to a shift away from natural gas and increased Electric Vehicle use.

Discussions should be held with Northern Powergrid (NPg) to establish whether businesses are willing to collaboratively pursue a connections-driven process that may require financial contributions or whether evidence should continue to be gathered for a strategic development in NPg’s next business planning period, beginning in 2029. The first option may provide greater flexibility in the timeline of the grid upgrade, whilst the second option should enable the grid upgrade to be completed in 2033.

As businesses calculate baselines and contribute to discussions regarding Estate-wide shared opportunities, each business should begin to implement quick wins, such as energy efficiency upgrades, behavioural change initiatives and infrastructure improvements. There should also be a focus on developing plans for integrating Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuels into diesel fleets to decarbonise transport and enhancing the Estate’s natural assets to assist with carbon sequestration and climate adaptation alongside improving employee wellbeing. By focusing on stakeholder engagement, accurate emissions reporting, energy efficiency, and making preparations for future years, 2025 will serve as a critical first step towards achieving Dalton Industrial Estate’s goal of Net Zero by 2040.

2026

2026 should build on the strong foundation established in 2025, advancing collaborative initiatives and progressing with implementing technologies and strategies that should be shared across the Estate alongside discussions surrounding the grid capacity upgrade options.

These include implementation and maintenance of the natural asset masterplan, three hydrogen-ready 1.1 MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units to improve energy resilience and a communal recycling site that would reduce the need for waste transportation. Waste-related emissions could be further reduced through optimising processes to reduce waste and through businesses on-site aligning procurement strategies and identifying opportunities for industry symbiosis across the Estate.

Advancing the projections calculated in 2025, the Estate’s requirement for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the future should be calculated to inform the planning and implementation of future EV charging developments and projections for grid capacity upgrades. Individual businesses that have not done so already could also consider implementing individual solar PV infrastructure on suitable unused roof space to reduce reliance on the grid and contribute to emissions and cost savings. These actions should collectively advance the Estates’ sustainability goals, fostering a more resilient and interconnected community.

2027

2027 moves deeper into reducing transport emissions through integrating 30% HVO fuel blend for diesel-operated vehicles and there is a focus on decarbonising heat on the Estate through advanced technologies.

Individual businesses should look to replace oil boilers with electric alternatives such as heat pumps, electric radiators and infrared heating. The decarbonisation of heat on the Estate should be advanced further through installing a shared high-temperature heat pump, potentially powered by waste heat from the Estate’s CHPs and wastewater facilities that already exist on site. These initiatives will underscore the Estate’s commitment to innovative solutions and continuous improvement in its decarbonisation journey.

2028

2028 further diversifies the Estate’s heat and power supply and reduces reliance on the grid with large-scale renewable energy infrastructure (standalone solar PV array and wind turbine) and a biochar boiler.

2028 also marks the next step for transport decarbonisation through integrating a 50% HVO blend for diesel vehicles and for the grid capacity upgrade. If the Estate has pursued a connections-driven process for the grid capacity upgrade, design and implementation may have begun. However, if the Estate has not chosen this route already, in 2028, NPg are to announce the strategic project funding for the next business planning period which would include a decision about the proposed strategic improvement for the grid. If this is not approved by Ofgem, the Estate must move to coordinate a multi-applicant connections-driven upgrade process with the support of NPg.

These actions will collectively strengthen the Estate's energy resilience and sustainability whilst taking the next key steps in facilitating the grid capacity upgrade.

2029

2029 will continue efforts to facilitate the grid upgrade and improve the Estate’s self-consumption of renewable energy through the installation of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).

This will improve the Estate’s energy resilience and enable future expansion, both of businesses on the Estate and EV charging infrastructure.

2030 — 2040

2030 to 2040 will see the completion of the grid upgrade, which should enable the expansion of EV charging infrastructure, reducing transport-related emissions.

Transport emissions will be further reduced through the progression to 100% HVO fuel for diesel-operated vehicles and whilst hydrogen should be integrated into the grid resulting in reduced CHP emissions, hydrogen should also be considered for transportation, dependent on technology development. The Estate could also consider exploring offsetting schemes during this period for hard-to-abate emissions and develop a strategy to ensure offsetting can reach 0% by 2040.

It should be noted that WSP are unable to validate, nor verify, the content of the five work packages that the Decarbonisation Plan is based upon. Therefore, further research should be conducted prior to implementation of any opportunity proposed in this Decarbonisation Plan to ensure financial viability, feasibility and emission savings.

The chapters of this report summarise the work carried out by WSP to develop the Dalton Industrial Estate Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plan and set out a pathway to achieve the Net Zero Carbon by 2040.

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