A NORTH-east decarbonisation project is to receive more than £31 million of UK Government funding aimed at axing CO2 emissions.
The money will be used to complete a programme of works at St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire, home to the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
They include:
- The detailed engineering required to move the Acorn CCS and Hydrogen projects to a final investment decision
- Developing a new CCS-equipped power station at Peterhead which would become an early customer for the Acorn infrastructure
- An assessment of the potential to re-use onshore pipelines to transport CO2 from the central belt of Scotland to the Acorn Project
- An engineering design programme for a carbon capture system on a gas-fired power station in Grangemouth
- Development of a “fabrication yard ready” design of a new class of ship which can service the needs of coastal CO2 emitters around the UK for delivery at Peterhead port
This important programme of new work and infrastructure reuse will provide a significant boost to the region’s fast-growing low carbon credentials, paving the way for onshore and offshore developments totalling in excess of £3 billion.
It will also map out the longer-term economic impacts, job preservation and creation opportunities as Scotland transitions away from oil and gas to low carbon fuels like hydrogen and CO2 removal technologies such as CCS.
Acorn, which is due to become operational in the mid-2020s, is exploring using existing oil and gas infrastructure to inject CO2 into depleted gas reservoirs under the North sea.
It’s headed up by Storegga Geotechnologies, through its wholly owned subsidiary Pale Blue Dot Energy.
Nick Cooper, Pale Blue Dot chief executive officer, said: “Today’s funding for the Scottish Net Zero Infrastructure (SNZI) programme is a further endorsement of the broader Acorn Project and the crucial role it plays in delivering the UK and Scotland’s net zero plans while providing a significant boost to the region’s fast-growing low carbon credentials.
“This funding will support a range of projects to progress Scotland’s low carbon infrastructure including the detailed engineering required to move Acorn CCS and Hydrogen through to final investment decisions. This is an important investment to ensure that this CCS infrastructure is operational by the mid-2020s, with the potential to store 20Mt/yr of CO2 emissions from Scotland, the UK and Europe by the mid-2030s, delivering new economic growth opportunities, creating and sustaining jobs in Scotland and across the UK.”
