Government sets out next steps for CCUS Clusters

30 March 2023, London

The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), the trade body for the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) industry in Europe, welcomes the further information provided today by the UK Government regarding the first round of CCUS deployment.

The Government has today confirmed the final selection of the first carbon capture projects to be built under the CCUS Cluster Sequencing Process. These are sites that will connect to the carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure that will be developed through the initial “Track 1” clusters (HyNet North West and East Coast Cluster).

Successful projects will receive revenue support to cover the cost of operating with carbon capture, as well as in some cases, capital support from the Low Carbon Hydrogen Fund to cover some of the cost of installing capture equipment and connecting to the CO₂ transport and storage network.

The projects selected today by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero are:

East Coast Cluster

• Net Zero Teesside Power
• bpH2 Teesside
• Teesside Hydrogen CO₂ Capture

HyNet Cluster

• Hanson Padeswood Cement Works Carbon Capture and Storage Project
• Viridor Runcorn Industrial CCS
• Protos Energy Recovery Facility
• Buxton Lime Net Zero
• HyNet Hydrogen Production Plant 1 (HPP1)

These projects represent a wide variety of sectors such as dispatchable low carbon power generation, industrial process emissions (cement, lime and energy from waste) and low-carbon hydrogen production.

These projects will create thousands of jobs in the North West and Teesside.

Today the Government has also set out the forward timeline for selecting the next “Track-2” CCUS clusters to be operational by 2030, as well as further clarity regarding the Track 1 expansion process. This is essential in providing future opportunities to connect to the network for projects and clusters that have not been selected – or previously eligible to participate, giving them a route to decarbonisation.

Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive at the CCSA, said:

“We are pleased to see Government pushing ahead with the first carbon capture projects. Collectively, these projects will capture millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and protect and create many thousands of jobs in critical sectors, delivering significant economic growth in two of the UK’s industrial regions.

However, today’s announcement will be particularly disappointing for the Humber region which emits more CO₂ than any region in the UK – projects based there urgently need clarity, alongside other unsuccessful projects. Government must therefore set out the process for further projects to be added to the first two clusters. This will give an important route to market for the remaining shortlisted – and new – projects in vital industrial sectors, where CCUS is the only option for achieving net zero, as well as clarity for those developing greenhouse gas removal technologies such as direct air capture and bioenergy with CCS. Companies have spent significant sums of money to develop proposals and they will need reassurance that this investment is not lost.

We welcome the launch of the process for the next two CCUS clusters, but now need to see a clear forward timeline. In addition, as per Chris Skidmore’s recommendation, we need to see a deployment plan for the whole of the UK, as all industrial regions need to decarbonise or risk seeing continued offshoring of our supply chain. Our member companies all around the country are investing in decarbonisation projects to meet the Government’s ambition of capturing 20-30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030, but this investment could go overseas to the US or Europe in the absence of a clear UK plan.”

David Parkin, HyNet Project Director at Progressive Energy said:

“We are absolutely delighted that five HyNet partners have been successful in receiving the go-ahead from Government today, enabling the project to move into construction in 2024. Together within the HyNet cluster, these projects will remove just under 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – supporting the UK’s net zero target.

HyNet is at the forefront of the UK’s new British carbon capture sector – leading the way in the development of the infrastructure, skills and the supply chain.

The North-West supports the most manufacturing jobs of any UK region. HyNet will enable the region to retain high value roles, secure 6,000 new jobs, attract inward investment and cultivate a supply chain across the region.  It will also give industry the ability to produce the environmentally friendly products that consumers are increasingly demanding.

This is good news for the UK’s fight against climate change, good news for the North West and North Wales region, and good news for British industry and the economy.”

Andy Lane, Managing Director of the Northern Endurance Partnership, said:

“Congratulations to the projects that have been selected today, and thank you to the team at DESNZ for maintaining the momentum in this process. It is important to stress that the projects selected today are just the start of our ambition to expand carbon capture and storage to serve projects across the entire Teesside and Humber regions. The Northern Endurance Partnership is investing to develop a wide portfolio of CO₂ storage sites which will more than double the CO₂ storage capacity of the cluster to around 10 million tonnes per year by 2030 – ready to serve the East Coast Cluster expansion projects”.

Nick Cooper, CEO at Storegga said:

“We welcome Government’s recognition of Acorn as one of two projects already seen as best able to meet the Track 2 eligibility criteria and ready to deliver on the Government’s objectives for Track 2. We support the Government’s drive to move this forward as quickly as possible now, in order to reach the target of 20-30Mt CO₂ captured and stored pa by 2030. Acorn, as the Reserve Cluster, remains ready to step up as soon as the Government asks us to do so.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

CCUS, or Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, is a key low carbon solution – vital to meeting the UK’s statutory Net Zero target at least cost. CCUS enables the production of clean power, clean products (such as steel and cement) and clean hydrogen – which can then be used to decarbonise heating and transport. In addition, CCUS also enables greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere through Direct Air Capture with Storage (DACS) or Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).

The CCSA is the lead European association accelerating the commercial deployment of CCUS. We work with members, governments and other organisations to ensure CCUS is developed and deployed at the pace and scale necessary to meet net zero goals and deliver sustainable growth across regions and nations.

The CCSA currently has over 100 member companies who are active in exploring and developing different applications of carbon capture, CO₂ transportation by pipeline and ship, utilisation, geological storage, and other permanent storage solutions, as well as members from management, legal and financial consulting sectors.

Further information regarding the projects selected today can be found here.

For media enquiries please contact Judith Shapiro on 07719763133 or email judith.shapiro@ccsassociation.org

To find out more about the Carbon Capture Storage Association (CCSA) please visit the CCSA website at http://www.ccsassociation.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 15^th March 2023, London

The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), the trade body for the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) industry in Europe, welcomes today’s Spring Budget 2023 confirmation of £20 billion funding for the UK’s CCUS programme.

The Budget confirms that this funding will kick-start early investment in CCUS “unlocking private investment and job creation across the UK, particularly on the East Coast and in the Northwest of England and North Wales, delivering up to 50,000 highly skilled jobs.”

Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive at the CCSA, said:

“We are delighted to see that the Chancellor has today confirmed £20 billion of funding for CCUS. This marks a turning point for this vital sector, delivering the much-needed certainty to investors that the UK is serious about delivering CCUS.

Today’s announcement means that two years since the launch of the programme, we can now move forward with implementing the initial CCUS clusters. Alongside this, the industry is developing a healthy pipeline of projects to deliver on the government’s net zero strategy in industrial regions all around the UK – these other regions are eagerly awaiting their turn to move forward with carbon capture and storage and will need to see the government commit to further deployment.

We look forward to seeing which projects have been chosen to move to construction, the forward timeline for selecting the next CCUS clusters that need to be operational this decade, and a swift passage of the Energy Bill through Parliament, to finalise the regulatory framework for the industry.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

CCUS, or Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, is a key low carbon solution – vital to meeting the UK’s statutory Net Zero target at least cost. CCUS enables the production of clean power, clean products (such as steel and cement) and clean hydrogen – which can then be used to decarbonise heating and transport. In addition, CCUS also enables greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere through Direct Air Capture with Storage (DACS) or Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).

The CCSA is the lead European association accelerating the commercial deployment of CCUS. We work with members, governments and other organisations to ensure CCUS is developed and deployed at the pace and scale necessary to meet net zero goals and deliver sustainable growth across regions and nations.

The CCSA currently has over 100 member companies who are active in exploring and developing different applications of carbon capture, CO₂ transportation by pipeline and ship, utilisation, geological storage, and other permanent storage solutions, as well as members from management, legal and financial consulting sectors.

Further background and guidance on the UK Government’s Cluster Sequencing Programme can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043088/ccus-cluster-sequencing-phase-2-guidance.pdf

For media enquiries please contact Judith Shapiro on 07719 763133/ judith.shapiro@ccsassociation.org.

To find out more about the Carbon Capture Storage Association (CCSA) please visit the CCSA website at http://www.ccsassociation.org/.

In response to the Chancellor’s Announcement (copied below) on the Clean Energy Reset, Ruth Herbert, the Carbon Capture and Storage Association’s CEO states;

“The industry welcomes the Chancellor’s announcement of major investment in UK carbon capture and storage. This will maintain the international competitiveness of our industries and give the UK a clear early mover advantage in a technology that will need to be deployed around the world if we are to limit global warming in line with the Paris agreement.

We have been spending significant sums of money at risk to develop projects that are ready to deploy to meet the Government’s Net Zero Strategy ambitions. This announcement means the UK’s industrial clusters can now move forward with essential decarbonisation plans, securing the future of our heavy industries and those employed in them and attracting billions of pounds of investment into levelling up these regions. 

This will create new jobs and growth, and position the UK to export low carbon products and CCS skills and services. The UK has a strong supply chain capability across all of the technologies needed to deploy CO₂ capture, transport and storage, thanks to our successful offshore industries as well as our chemical and engineering know-how.”

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact Olivia Powis on 07979 380294 or email olivia.powis@ccsassociation.org

To find out more about the Carbon Capture Storage Association (CCSA) please visit the CCSA website at http://www.ccsassociation.org/.

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 9^th March 2023

The Climate Change Committee has today published a new report “Delivering a reliable decarbonised power system”.

Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive at the CCSA, said:

“Today’s report from the Climate Change Committee is clear – Carbon Capture, and Storage (CCS) will be critical to delivering a decarbonised GB electricity system by 2035, alongside 70% renewable generation.

CCS will provide flexible low-carbon generation, either through gas-fired power stations fitted with CCS or CCS-enabled hydrogen used in power generation. Furthermore, the CCC modelling clearly shows that the majority of hydrogen production between now and 2035 will be CCS-enabled. 

To achieve this we need to move much much faster – the Government’s CCUS cluster programme needs to confirm now that it will significantly ramp up the number of CCS-enabled flexible power and hydrogen projects to be commissioned this decade. We also need a clear strategy for developing and expanding at pace the critical CCS and hydrogen infrastructure that will be vital for not just the power sector, but also industrial decarbonisation.

We are delighted to see the recommendation from the CCC that Government should commit to a long-term cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy, and we look forward to working with our members to drive this forward”.

For media enquiries please contact Judith Shapiro at judith.shapiro@ccsassociation.org/ M: +44 (0)7719763133