OIL and gas business Wood Group Kenny has won a design contract for the subsea and pipeline part of the Peterhead Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in Aberdeenshire.

The company said it is "honoured" to take part in what it called a "unique" project, which could help generate clean electricity for more than one million homes. Altogether, 80 engineers from its Aberdeen and London offices will provide support.

The firm will take charge of the front-end engineering design (FEED) for what is the world's first full-scale gas CCS project, which is being developed by Shell, and backed by Scottish and Southern Energy.

Additionally the project will help both develop CCS technology and decarbonise the UK's power sector. Adding CCS to a gas power plant can cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 90 per cent.

Up to 10 million tonnes of such emissions could be taken from the Peterhead power station and moved for long-term storage deep under the North Sea.

Wood Group's contract is set to last six months, and includes developing a landfall solution at the power station, and designing a new CO2 export pipeline from the power station to a subsea tie-in with the current Goldeneye pipeline. Also included in its remit is a new subsea intervention valve, including controls system and tie-in spools.

Regional director Bob MacDonald said: "Using our 30 years of subsea infrastructure design, Wood Group Kenny is well-placed to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions that will help achieve the targets of the UK government."

The Peterhead CCS project forms a key part of the UK government's CCS plans.

Business, enterprise and energy minister Matthew Hancock said: "We are leading the way in Europe in developing this innovative low-carbon technology."

He added that testing the commercial feasibility is a crucial stage of CCS, with 20 FEED subcontracts awarded for both the Peterhead and White Rose CCS Commercialisation Programme projects.

In February, Shell and the UK government agreed that the Peterhead project could move to the FEED design phase, which is expected to last into next year.