Rishi Sunak is being urged to set-out a clear timeline for a North Sea Carbon Capture Project which will support 15,000 jobs.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) has asked the Chancellor to use this week’s Budget to “put right the wrong” with regards to the Scottish Cluster.
The project – which has the Acorn transport and storage scheme in St Fergus at its core – will capture up to 23 million tonnes of CO2 per year once fully operational and store it in depleted oilfields beneath the North Sea.
Despite 30% of the UK’s storage capacity lying within a 50km radius of the project’s footprint, the UK Government placed the scheme ‘in reserve’, opting instead for two projects elsewhere in the UK.
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson expected to announce new oil and gas exploration in his energy review later this month, the Chamber has asked that any move to maximise North Sea production is matched with low carbon ambition.
Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive of AGCC, said: “It is important that while tackling the energy supply issues of today, our policy makers don’t drop the ball with our energy transition.
“The Climate Change Committee has said that up to five clusters will be required for us to meet our climate targets, so why are we stopping at two for now?
“Businesses in the North-east are fully bought-in to the energy transition and what we now need is a timeline for this crucial part of our low carbon future to be delivered.
“The Acorn Project, with its established infrastructure and its accelerated timeline for delivery, is one of the many reasons why Scotland was a standout location to be amongst the first UK clusters.
“The UK Government chose a different direction, but with a fresh energy strategy in the pipeline, now is an opportune moment to right that wrong and outline a clear timeline for delivering what would be a transformational project for Scotland.”
The Scottish Cluster, by deploying CCS, hydrogen and Direct Air Capture (“DAC”) technologies in Scotland, could support an average of 15,100 jobs between 2022-2050, comprising 6,200 direct jobs and 8,900 supply chain jobs.
A crucial component of the bid is the Acorn CO2 transport and storage infrastructure project, an ambitious programme based at the St Fergus Gas Terminal near Peterhead.
It is designed to tackle climate change by dealing with both power and industrial CO2 emissions together with those from other ‘hard to decarbonise’ sectors through the manufacture of Hydrogen and Direct Air Capture.
By making use of oil and gas pipelines that are already in place, offshore geology that is ideal for permanently storing CO2, and a region that is embracing hydrogen as a fuel of the future, Acorn is a vital catalyst for the next phase of the UK’s journey to net zero.
The project will capture 6.7 million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”) of CO2 by 2030, and over 23Mtpa in the longer term.