An industrial region on the North East coast of the UK could help bring a new focus to the demonstration and development on carbon capture and storage technology on the world stage. Power station developers on Teesside on the North Sea coast are teaming up with neighbouring energy-intensive industries to progress a 'CCS cluster' project. The project which would share a large diameter sub-sea carbon dioxide pipeline to a North Sea storage site could be operational by 2015. Sited by the coast and with a storage site tens of miles out into the North Sea the project should raise much less local public or local political concerns about pipeline routing, leakage and safety which has slowed some CCS projects in mainland Europe.
On February 2nd the region's development agency One North East issued a 'prospectus' for the development of CCS in its area. The prospectus is supported by the Association of North East Councils which points out that the region has both carbon-emitting industry in close proximity to each other and relevant industrial jobs skills.
The cluster would capture and store up to 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from an 800 MW 'gasifier' scheme, a 140 MW turbine set conversion at a aluminium smelter and emissions from other surrounding industries. The storage site could be a saline aquifer or a depleted oil field to enhance oil recovery (EOR).
The proposal has arisen out of several years of work led by CCS developer Progressive Energy. Their vision has recently been given strong momentum by becoming a key part of a £ 60 million grant fund by the region's development agency and UK Government. This is good news for Progressive Energy which has been trying to progress a 800 MW Integrated Gasifiaction Combined Cycle (IGCC) scheme on Teeside for several years. The company and other gasifier developers suffered a knock-back about a year ago when gasifier schemes were suddenly excluded from the UK Government's CCS competition for demonstrator projects. Plans for the 800 MW scheme had been well advanced and the project has technically been ready-to-roll for at least a year. Only uncertainty about funding for low carbon power generation and some regulatory issues are now holding back the power station scheme and hence the cluster project.
The development agencies and local councils of this industrial region see a low-carbon future as a key part of their economic strategies. The CCS cluster is a key part of a £ 60 million Tees Valley Industrial Programme awarded in December to spearhead job creation and low carbon technologies. The region has also seen the appointment of the world's first Professorial Chair of CCS based at nearby Durham University backed by industrial support. Indeed, technologies to use captured carbon dioxide to manufacture new materials are being researched.
This week (Feb 15th) the large Chorus steel-making plant on Teesside was 'mothballed' by Indian owners Tata causing thousands of job redundancies. This could mean any job-creating industries, particularly low-carbon energy generation, will be even more welcome by local politicians and public alike.
Neil Crumpton
ZERO
