Carbon capture proposals for the Humber bank have been expanded, with the award of additional licences to increase storage by more than 50 per cent.
Harbour Energy, the operator of the Viking CCS network, together with its non-operating partner BP, has been granted permissions for zones alongside the initial consent secured in the Southern North Sea. Early estimates are it could add another 150 million tonnes to the decarbonisation project for heavy industry.
Steve Cox, Harbour Energy’s executive vice president of net zero and CCS, said: “The award of these new licences is another important step forward to help scale up our carbon capture, transportation and storage plans in the UK, and another demonstration of the valuable role the oil and gas sector can bring to the development of this nascent industry. The potential for additional storage capacity could play a vital role in supporting the UK to meet its net zero goals while also creating thousands of skilled British jobs.”
Viking CCS, awarded Track Two status by the government in July, will serve the Humber Zero project, led by Phillips 66 Humber Refinery and the expanding neighbouring combined heat and power plant from VPI. Further partners like RWE and Prax are also being secured, with new build power and process operations signing up, while also accommodating imports. ABP is developing the multi-use Immingham Green Energy Terminal to handle shipping, be it from other UK clusters or Europe.
A new pipeline is in the planing process, linking the Humber with the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal site. The project leaders are aiming to handle 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030, adding a further 50 per cent by 2035. The existing Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System would be used, having previously supplied North Sea gas to South Bank industry.
Licences were issued on Friday by the North Sea Transition Authority. The zones are adjacent to, and west of, the existing Viking CCS storage zone – one of the very first to be issued. Harbour has also been awarded two additional licences for the Acorn CCS project in north east Scotland. Harbour has a 30 per cent non-operated interest in Acorn, which is operated by lead developer Storegga, supporting SSE’s Peterhead power plant A total of 14 companies were awarded 21 licences in the round.
Stuart Payne, NSTA chief executive, said: “Carbon storage will play a crucial role in the energy transition, storing carbon dioxide deep under the seabed and playing a key role in hydrogen production and energy hubs. It is exciting to award these licences and our teams will support the licensees to bring about first injection of carbon dioxide as soon as possible. We will also continue to work with industry and government to enable further licensing activity and back the UK’s drive to net zero emissions.”
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, added: “The UK has one of the largest potential carbon dioxide storage capacities in Europe, putting us in prime position to be world leaders in carbon capture – which is why we’ve committed an unprecedented £20 billion to develop the early stage development of carbon capture, usage and storage. These new licences confirmed today will be vital to realising our CCUS potential, playing a key role in the energy transition to help boost our energy security and achieve our net zero targets, while also bringing in private investment and supporting thousands of jobs.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
