Samsung to take 15 per cent in Don Valley CCS scheme

Samsung is to take a 15 per cent stake in the 2CO carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Don Valley in Yorkshire.

The 650MW scheme, which is one of six UK CCS projects bidding for EU funding from the new entrants reserve 300 competition (NER300), is described by 2CO as carbon capture, use and storage: The carbon captured from the coal plant will first be used to recover oil in the North Sea before being stored.

According to 2CO, that additional, revenue-generating step makes the economic model more viable. It would also extend the life of the UK’s North Sea oil reserves and generate more tax revenue as a result, claimed the firm.

The company hopes to take CO2 from other plants in the region. In the longer term CCS developers want to create CCS clusters. That would enable them to share the costs of developing the necessary infrastructure. A recent paper from environmental think tank the Green Alliance urged government to help developers set up such clusters by picking two or three areas, and setting aside some public funds for front end engineering and design studies.

The paper also urged government to lay out what support CCS, in all its forms, will receive in future from the contracts for difference feed-in tariffs being devised by government to incentivise low carbon generation.

Further reading:

European Investment Bank strengthens NER300 sales

Storage is big money for UK

Decc launches £20 million CCS competition

2CO further reading