Applications lodged for ‘significant’ CCS power plants

Planning applications have been submitted for what could be the UK’s first power stations to be fitted with carbon capture technology.

SSE and Equinor announced yesterday (10 June) that they have submitted a development consent order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate, which handles large infrastructure projects, for a 910 MW CCGT gas plant in north Lincolnshire that would be fitted with carbon capture technology to remove CO2 from its emissions.

And Net Zero Teesside Power, a partnership which also includes Equinor, has submitted a DCO to the inspectorate for redevelopment of the former SSI steel works at Redcar for a carbon capture project, including a new gas-fired power station.

SSE and Equinor will transport their captured emissions from the proposed power station at Keadby by a pipeline, which is being developed by the Zero Carbon Humber partnership that includes both SSE and Equinor.

The captured CO2 will then be transported for secure storage to an offshore geological site under the Southern North Sea, which is being developed by the Northern Endurance Partnership, which also incorporates Equinor.

The projects are being built close to SSE’s existing CCGT 734 MW power station at Keadby.

The energy giants announced in April that they were working together on a cluster of low carbon power stations at Keadby in north Lincolnshire.

The Net Zero Teesside Power partnership, which is also backed by Equinor, says its plans have the potential to capture up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum from the proposed power station and local industries.

The emissions will be captured through a common CO2 pipeline network and transported to a secure offshore storage site, like in Humberside.

SSE is also currently building its 840MW Keadby 2 gas power station, which will be capable of being upgraded with carbon capture or hydrogen technology, as routes to market develop.

In March 2020, the station secured a 15-year capacity agreement through the capacity auction process.

Angus Walker, partner at solicitors BDB Pitmans and expert in infrastructure planning, wrote in a blog that the applications are “significant”.

“They are the first to be made that actually include carbon capture, not just the rather lamer ‘carbon capture ready’.”