The South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) is a cluster of diverse industrial companies and sites across South Wales who have come together to collaboratively tackle common challenges of decarbonisation and clean growth. SWIC comprises of a diverse set of industries with both common and unique challenges. Sectors represented include steel, oil refining, paper, nickel refining, insulation materials, chemicals, LNG importing, Royal Mint and general manufacturing.

The SWIC project will develop a roadmap for Phase 1 to deliver its vision of "developing a world leading truly sustainable industry befitting the
societal needs of 2030, 2040, 2050 and beyond". This will incorporate a circular economy thus lead to a smarter, greener and healthier society.

Current SWIC carbon emission levels are at 9MTCO2/y direct from industry, plus another 10MTCO2/y from power generation. SWICs target is
to work with the power sector and achieve stepped reductions over the next two decades ultimately achieving Net Zero Carbon (NZC) by 2040.
The Phase-1 work will establish NZC options for SWIC members; including two of the largest industrial UK CO2 emitters, several large sites and
several medium sized sites. This will allow the several mini-local clusters to form, before growing and combining with each other, ultimately merging to connect to the large coastal CO2 emitters, at which point large scale CCU/CCS options exist creating value from residual regional carbon.
This embryonic strategy centres around a stepped approach to NZC that progresses each step along a project journey to inform/refine the overall
vision, whilst driving forward those steps where People-Planet-Profit combine to provide the trigger point to implement part or the whole of the
next step. NZC progression supports not just the NZC target but will meet the societal needs and targets of the region and support the common and
unique commercial and operational challenges and targets facing South Wales industry. The roadmap will also deliver a route for South Wales as a
region to ultimately work and evolve in synergy with decarbonisation action in other regions in the UK.

NZC as a target must be realised in the much broader context of 'People, Planet and Profit', achieving truly sustainable clean growth, within a
globally competitive market, maintaining a growing, clean vibrant and diverse Industrial sector in the region. SWIC was formed using a holistic
and integrated strategy.

CR Plus are leading the project on behalf of SWIC, with Phase-1 representing an opportunity to coalesce efforts, cement a direction and to
further scope the action plan required to achieve the SWIC vision.