Aberdeenshire and Yorkshire projects to compete for CCS funding

The Peterhead Project in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and the White Rose Project in Yorkshire, England were scrutinised against criteria including project deliverability, value for money and the UK’s timetable to deliver a cost-competitive CCS industry in the 2020s.

CCS technology, if developed at scale, could allow the safe removal and storage of carbon emissions from coal and gas fired power stations to help the UK meet its climate change targets.

Secretary of state for energy and climate change, Edward Davey said: ‘These two are major infrastructure projects potentially worth several billion pounds and could support thousands of construction jobs over the next few years.’

The Peterhead Project in Aberdeenshire, Scotland involves capturing around 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide from part of the existing gas fired power station at Peterhead.

Up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions could be captured from power station and then be transported by pipeline and stored approximately 100km offshore in the depleted Goldeneye gas reservoir, more than 2km under the North Sea.

The White Rose Project in Yorkshire, England involves capturing 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide from a new super-efficient coal-fired power station at the Drax site in North Yorkshire, before transporting and storing it in a saline aquifer beneath the southern North Sea.

The project is being led by Capture Power, a consortium set up by Alstom, Drax and BOC to develop the project, in co-operation with National Grid, who will provide the transportation and storage infrastructure for the project.

The government will now undertake discussions with the two preferred bidders to agree terms by the summer for Front End Engineering Design (FEED) studies, which will last approximately 18 months.

A final investment decision will be taken by the government in early 2015 on the construction of up to two projects.