The Government of the UK has pledged nearly £22 billion (~ $28.5B) of funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects on the island.
The funding will be rolled out in subsidies for the development of new CCS clusters in the industry-heavy areas of Teeside and Merseyside.
Located in the North East of the UK, Teesside is also part of the East Coast Cluster by the Northern Endurance Partnership, selected by the UK Government as a priority cluster in phase 1 of the Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process.
Last year, some of the projects located in Teesside advanced to Track-1 negotiations as part of Phase 2 of the cluster sequencing process for CCUS.
The newly greenlighted CCS governmental funding, totaling up to £21.7 billion, will cover a period of 25 years, beginning in 2028.
Divided into three projects, the funding will support the capture of up to 8.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions released either during hydrogen production, gas power generation, or waste-to-energy burning processes, locking away the captured exhausts into empty gas fields in the North Sea and Liverpool Bay.
UK set to become carbon capture leader?
According to a report published this week by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), the UK has the potential to become the largest market for carbon storage in Europe.
Looking into figures ahead of final investment decisions on the Track-1 CCUS clusters, OEUK concluded that depleted oil and gas reserves around the UK, a legacy from the country’s bustling industry, offer some 78 billion tonnes worth of storage potential.
This capacity can lock away an amount of captured CO2 equal to 200 years worth of emissions from the UK, OEUK stated.
OEUK also shared that the carbon capture sector has the potential to create 50,000 new jobs and guarantee a further 100,000 across different industries in the UK, building a supply chain worth £100 billion by 2050.
In this regard, with the newly announced funding, the government believes it will be able to create 4000 direct jobs and support the creation of another 50,000 openings, hoping to also attract £8bn in private investment.
While the current earmarked amount will cover fewer projects than originally envisioned with a funding announced by the previous administration, the UK government plans to use the means to fund the first large-scale hydrogen production plant in the UK, as well as help with the green transition of the oil and gas sector.
The news of the funding has been met with approval by unions and industry representatives.
Gary Smith, general secretary of GMB Union, commented that this decision “shows what leveling up can really mean: good, well-paid jobs reinvigorating communities.”
On behalf of Clean Air Task Force, Toby Lockwood, Technology and Markets Director for CCS, stated, “This long-term investment should be money well spent, as without carbon capture and storage these facilities would have continued adding millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for years to come.”
“With the cost of carbon emissions set to rise, it makes sense to invest in technologies which can make these industries compatible with our climate targets, rather than sit back as they are ultimately forced to shut down.”
Rebecca Tremain, Director of UK Policy at Clean Air Task Force, added, “There is ample scientific evidence that returning billions of tonnes of CO2 to the earth will be an essential part of global efforts to fight climate change, and the necessary technologies are already available today.”
She shared that as more European countries pledge funding for CCS, the UK’s support for the technology will fortify the country’s climate leadership and industrial competitiveness, helping to bring down costs for future projects for the UK and beyond.
Neil McCulloch, CEO of Spirit Energy, also welcomed the announcement, highlighting that CCS is vital to achieving the government’s guiding mission to deliver clean energy by 2030 and to deliver the net-zero 2050 goals.
“It offers a vital lifeline to the hard-to-abate industries that so many UK jobs and livelihoods rely on, and today’s announcement represents a vote of confidence in not only CCS but the industrial heartlands that stand to benefit from the technology,” he added.
McCulloch also shared that in line with the progress on Track-1, the government of the UK must now create a pathway for other mature CCS projects, referencing Spirit Energy’s project being developed in a joint venture with Centrica plc and Stadtwerke München GmbH that plans to create a billion tonnes of CO2 storage in the depleted gas fields at Morecambe Bay, with a stated potential of decarbonizing 40% of the UK’s cement and lime industry.
Setback on the same day
However, the news of the funding also comes at the same time with an announcement by ExxonMobil that it’s stopping its Solent CO2 Pipeline Project.
In a statement shared on the project’s website, the company shared, “Despite our efforts over the past three years to secure the necessary government policies and market conditions to support the significant investment required, we have concluded that these conditions are not currently in place.”
An ExxonMobil representative stated, “Due to lack of policy certainty and timelines, we will not proceed with appraisal of CO2 storage opportunities in the English Channel at this time.”
They went on to say, “We remain committed to reducing emissions and progressing large-scale emission reduction projects when there is supportive policy in place. We sincerely appreciate the valuable feedback and participation from communities and stakeholders during the Solent CO2 pipeline consultation process.”
ExxonMobil’s proposal included the construction of a 33-km-long pipeline that would collect CO2 from the Fawley Oil Refinery and transport it for storage at a specialized facility off the Isle of Wight.
Exxon was looking into three potential project corridors, two of which located under the New Forest and a third via the Isle of Wight.
This proposal received widespread opposition from Isle of Wight residents and other critics, leading to a petition signed by 32,000 people asking ExxonMobil to cancel their plans.
Speaking to the press, members of parliament representing the Isle of Wight and New Forest expressed that they are pleased with this decision to drop the project, calling it “good news.”
source: carbon herald
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