Government shortlists 20 carbon capture projects for support

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects backed by Cadent, Equinor and SSE were amongst 20 shortlisted on Friday (12 August) for government financial backing in the next stage of its drive to establish net zero industrial clusters.

The projects selected by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are all part of the East Coast and HyNet North West schemes, which were designated earlier this year as the first two industrial clusters in the UK in line to receive funding for the construction of CCS infrastructure.

These comprise three power, four hydrogen and 13 industrial projects.

The power CCS projects include Net Zero Teesside Power, a partnership between BP and Equinor to redevelop the former SSI steel works at Redcar for a carbon capture project and new gas-fired power station.

Equinor is also a partner in the also shortlisted Keadby 3 Carbon Power Station, a 910 MW CCGT plant in north Lincolnshire, which the company is developing with SSE.

The Whitetail Clean Energy project, which is being developed by Sembcorp Energy UK and US firm 8 Rivers Capital on the site of a former ICI chemicals plant on the outskirts of Redcar, is the third power CCS project to be selected.

All three projects are in the East Coast cluster, which enjoys port and pipeline access, meaning captured carbon can be transported to UK sequestration sites and permanently stored in geological formations under the North Sea

The Cadent-backed HyNet Hydrogen Production Project at Cheshire’s Stanlow refinery has been shortlisted.

This involves converting natural gas into ‘blue hydrogen’, which will then be transported by a new pipeline network across the north west of England and north Wales to power stations and to supply fuel for buses, trains and heavy goods vehicles.

The CO2 released through the process will be captured and piped offshore for storage in exhausted gas fields in Liverpool Bay.

BEIS has also shortlisted Equinor’s Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) production plant at Saltend, which is designed to anchor the wider East Coast net zero industrial cluster.

Equinor and Cadent have also announced plans for the UK’s first ‘hydrogen town’ in the Humber region, which is home to the East Coast cluster.

The government announced in October last year that the East Coast and HyNet North had been selected as the first two net zero industrial clusters.

Welcoming the shortlist announcement, Carbon Capture and Storage Association chief executive Ruth Herbert, said: “This announcement also sends a very strong signal that carbon capture, utilisation and storage and net zero remains a priority for the UK Government, particularly since it comes during a change in leadership.

“CCUS is critical in achieving net zero and positioning the UK as the world’s first at-scale hydrogen economy.  It will transform our industrial regions – driving jobs and growth through inward investment and export opportunities.”

She added that the CCSA is looking forward to further clarity on the timetable for the shortlisted projects and the selection of further clusters in the autumn.

In his 10 point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published last autumn, prime minister Boris Johnson committed to deploy a minimum of two net zero industrial clusters by the mid-2020s, and four by the end of the decade.