Plans unveiled for UK’s first net zero power plant

Proposals have been unveiled by Sembcorp Energy UK and US firm 8 Rivers Capital to build the UK’s first net zero power plant at the Wilton International site on Teesside, which could come online in four years time.

The Whitetail Clean Energy project, which has already benefited from £6 million in government support, is the result of a collaboration between SEUK and 8 Rivers Capital acting through a UK subsidiary.

Whitetail is expected to produce around 300MW of green electricity using a process called the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, developed by 8 Rivers Capital and its portfolio company NET Power.

This process combusts natural gas with oxygen, rather than air, and uses carbon dioxide in a fluid state (known as ‘supercritical’ CO2) to drive a turbine instead of steam. This eliminates all air pollutants and the CO2 is captured and stored offshore, making Whitetail a net zero emissions plant.

The Wilton site offers port and pipeline access, meaning the plant’s captured carbon can be transported to UK sequestration sites and permanently stored in geological formations under the North Sea.

8 Rivers’ UK group, Zero Degrees Whitetail Development, aims to construct multiple facilities in the UK and says Whitetail could be online as soon as 2025.

Should the plans go ahead at the Middlesbrough site, SEUK said up to 2,000 jobs could be created during construction.

Speaking to Utility Week following the announcement Andy Koss, chief executive of UK and Middle East, Sembcorp Industries, said there was capacity to build more plants at the Teesside site.

He said:  “We do have land available where we could do more of these but as with all carbon capture and storage projects, they need government support. We need to go through that process to secure the CfD that will underpin the investment.

“We are focusing on the first one but certainly if that works then hopefully there could be more in the pipeline. As this is first of a kind technology you would also hope there could be some cost reductions over time as well which is another objective for the government, to drive down the costs of CCUS.”

Cam Hosie, chief executive of 8 Rivers Capital, said Whitetail represents a “key step” towards net zero with the UK and US working in close collaboration.

He added: “The Allam-Fetvedt Cycle technology was first supported by the UK government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change in 2010, and the announcement today of the Whitetail Clean Energy project demonstrates the value of supporting research and development projects to support the UK’s efforts to achieve its net zero targets, with commercially scaled technologies today returning to the United Kingdom as proven concepts.

“The UK’s leadership in supporting the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle will lead to significant investment into the United Kingdom and an acceleration in the deployment of NET Power plants in the UK to provide gigawatts of clean power alongside renewable energy to help meet our collective climate goals as fast as possible.”

Meanwhile energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “This project not only demonstrates the UK’s leadership in helping the world decarbonise but our expertise in scaling up research and development projects, creating over 2,000 jobs in Teesside and opening up opportunities right across the supply chain – supporting our efforts to revitalise this key industrial heartland.”