AN energy chief has said he is “confident” the UK Government will back a major Scottish carbon capture plant.
Dr Andrew Gardner, chairman of Ineos Grangemouth, said in November he was “absolutely shocked” when the project was not included in the first round of UK funding last autumn.
Last year Ineos, Scotland’s single biggest polluter, announced it would spend more than £1 billion to eliminate its emissions by 2045 – harnessing green hydrogen and carbon capture technology.
Carbon capture, see diagram on the technology below, is seen as a key way to tackle emissions from heavy industry, as well as reusing North Sea infrastructure. It is designed to work by taking CO2 emissions and then reusing them or storing them permanently underground.
Dr Gardner, whose company is involved in developing the flagship Acorn carbon capture project based around the St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire, spoke out weeks after ministers sidelined the scheme in favour of two programmes in the north of England.
And while five months on, there has been no further announcements of support, Dr Gardner told The Herald his company was still fully committed to the scheme and believed it would be backed.
“We are fully committed to the Scottish Cluster’s Acorn CO2 transport and storage project. Given it will account for approximately
60 per cent of the UK storage capacity, it is critical not only for the decarbonisation of the Scottish industrial heartland but also the UK,” said Dr Gardner.
“Last year we set out our road map to deliver emission reductions of more than 60% CO2 across our Grangemouth operations by 2030, with further reductions towards our net zero target by 2045.
“This year, we are investing millions of pounds worth of engineering and technical studies to progress our CCS [carbon capture and storage] -enabled blue hydrogen plans and other emission reduction initiatives at the Grangemouth site.
“In addition, we are working with Scottish Gas Networks to test and trial the inclusion of hydrogen within the local natural gas transmission system, to demonstrate it is ready
for when hydrogen is available at scale to help meet the transition
to a low-carbon fuelled future,
and Scotland’s 2045 Net Zero commitment.”
He added: “We are confident the UK Government will recognise the importance of the Scottish CCS Cluster and that it will include it as one of four major CCS clusters across the UK.
“The CO2 transport and storage infrastructure established by this network of clusters is essential for so many of the UK’s carbon intensive industries to remain competitive and sustainable.”
Speaking to the BBC last year,
Dr Gardner said if the project did not get backing in Scotland, the UK and parts of Europe would struggle to meet climate change targets.
“The simple answer is it has to be when, not if, and I am very confident that at the maximum it will be delayed by 18 months. I know there is a lot of pressure and a lot of internal discussions going on just now that you would hope may drive a change in that view,” he said adding that the plant was for the benefit of Scotland, the UK and parts of Europe.
“It’s not just for Ineos or for Grangemouth, it’s for decarbonising the whole of the central belt and the north east of Scotland and its signed deals to take carbon from the London area by ship and various Europeans.
“So if it didn’t happen, it wouldn’t just be us struggling with our target, it would be the nations of Scotland, the UK and potentially parts of Europe that are in discussion with the Scottish cluster.”
Dr Gardner was the second Scottish energy chief to express disbelief at the decision – which the SNP said was political.
Tycoon Sir Ian Wood, who is involved in developing an Energy Transition Zone in Aberdeen, said last year the decision made “little economic or environmental sense and is a real blow to Scotland”.
Greg Hands, the energy minister, announced projects in the northwest around Liverpool and across Humber and Teesside, were to be granted Track 1 status, with access to state support such as the £1 billion carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) infrastructure fund set up in 2018.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to making the UK a world-leader in green technology, including carbon capture. The Acorn project has already been allocated over £40 million in development funding by the UK Government in recent years, and we want to make sure the cluster can get maximum value from this support going forward.”
“The strong potential of the Acorn project has been confirmed by the bidding process - which is just the start. This is good news for the future competitiveness of Scotland’s industry, and we will continue to work with the Scottish Government to help the Scottish Cluster continue its development.”
UK ministers are committed to supporting four clusters to deployment by 2030 at the latest.
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