A consortium of BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total will accelerate the development of the Net Zero Teesside Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project in the North East of England aimed at fully decarbonizing a cluster of carbon-intensive...
A consortium of BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total will accelerate the development of the Net Zero Teesside Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project in the North East of England aimed at fully decarbonizing a cluster of carbon-intensive businesses by as early as 2030.
The partners, all members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, will work closely with the UK government and local authorities to develop the project to deliver the UK’s first zero carbon cluster by the mid-2020s.
The project will decarbonize local industry by building a transportation and storage system to gather industrial CO2, compress it and store it safely in a reservoir under the North Sea. The transportation and storage infrastructure will encourage new investment in the region from industries that wish to store or use CO2. In addition, a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility with carbon capture technology will provide low carbon power.
Andy Lane, managing director of Net Zero Teesside, said: ‘Its advantageous location, advanced planning stage, the expertise of our world class project partners and government support for decarbonization in the UK mean Net Zero Teesside is uniquely positioned to become the UK’s first decarbonized cluster.’
Net Zero Teesside will be the first major development to be based on the South Tees Development Corporation site where a former steelworks site has been bought back into public ownership. The project has also signed memorandums of understanding with three companies in the hub to evaluate the technical and commercial case for capturing CO2 from their industrial plants for safe storage.
From the mid-2020s, the project plans to capture up to 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, equivalent to the annual energy use of up to 2 million homes in the UK. It is expected to play a significant role in helping the UK reach its net zero 2050 greenhouse gas emissions target while delivering an annual gross benefit of up to £450 million for the Teesside region supporting up to 5500 direct jobs.
