Keadby Three Carbon Capture Power Station has been confirmed as in the running for backing from the government’s cluster sequencing competition.
The joint venture - one of three being brought forward as Keadby Two Power Station’s build completes west of Scunthorpe - joins Peterhead plans in the application process.
As reported, Equinor’s own Hydrogen 2 Humber Saltend project and Humber Zero from VPI Immingham and Phillips 66 will also land on the Business Secretary’s desk.
Read more: Key contractor appointed for Humber Zero carbon capture project
It follows the East Coast Cluster’s umbrella project phase one success late last year.
Keadby Three - currently with the planning inspectorate - would plug into the shared pipelines being developed through the Zero Carbon Humber and East Coast Cluster partnerships, with the CO2 stored under the southern North Sea.
The Peterhead plan would decarbonise Scotland’s only major thermal generation site with the captured emissions transported and stored using pipelines being developed by the Acorn Project. In total, the two low-carbon power stations in North Lincolnshire and Aberdeenshire would capture up to three million tonnes of CO2 a year – 10 per cent of the government’s 2030 target.
Martin Pibworth, SSE’s group energy and commercial director, said: “SSE’s Net Zero Acceleration Programme will see us invest £12.5 billion over the next five years with a focus on low-carbon infrastructure, and whilst renewable generation is at the heart of that strategy, we know we will need flexible low-carbon power to ensure security of supply when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.
“That is why carbon capture projects, like the ones we are developing at Keadby and Peterhead, are so important. The UK Government clearly recognises the pivotal role carbon capture will play in helping to achieve net zero targets, with the cluster sequencing process essential to getting projects up and running as soon as possible.”
SSE and Equinor are also working together on Keadby Hydrogen Power Station - what would be the world’s first 100 per cent hydrogen-fuelled power station and Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage in East Yorkshire, where there is potential for one of the world's largest hydrogen storage facilities.
Grete Tveit, senior vice president for low carbon solutions at Equinor, said: “Keadby Three Carbon Capture Power Station and Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station will play important roles in providing flexible dispatchable power working alongside intermittent renewables, giving enhanced low-carbon energy security. These projects will make a significant contribution towards the UK’s climate change ambitions, with Keadby Three Carbon Capture Power Station further accelerating the Zero Carbon Humber vision to become the UK's first net zero carbon cluster by 2040.”
As part of its Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the UK Government established a commitment to deploy carbon capture technology in two industrial clusters by the mid-2020s and two further clusters by 2030.
Humber is track one with Scotland a reserve.
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