JEAN Morrison, chair of Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), has welcomed the government’s plan for scaling up the UK’s carbon capture and storage sector with £20 billion of investment, following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Statement.
She said: “This is positive for the energy sector and will help bring in vital private investment and build a pipeline of CCS projects that will play a crucial role in decarbonising the economy.
Although we are disappointed the Acorn project at St Fergus was not mentioned during the Chancellor’s speech, we remain optimistic that with government investment the North-east can be front and centre of CCS expansion. The Buchan project has the potential to accelerate the roll out of technology across the UK and we hope to see it on the shortlist of eligible projects later this month.
In this region we have access to specialist skills, stemming from 50 years’ expertise in the oil and gas sector, not to mention two leading academic institutions to help facilitate collaboration across industry, government, and research as well as proximity to the infrastructure and facilities to allow industry to capture, transport and store CO2 emissions.”
“AREG will continue to support its members and associates, who can play a vital role in developing the foundations and networks necessary for CCS and hydrogen technologies to underpin the emerging markets.”
AREG is one of the original energy transition organisations and represents more than 280 member organisations, enabling net zero. www.aberdeenrenewables.com
For further information or to request an interview please contact Joanna Macdonald on [email protected] or call 077063349.
