UK subsea CO2 storage bids outlined

March 21, 2013
Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has revealed the two preferred bidders in the UK’s £1-billion ($1.5-billion) Carbon Capture and Storage Commercialization Program.

Offshore staff

LONDON – Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has revealed the two preferred bidders in the UK’s £1-billion ($1.5-billion) Carbon Capture and Storage Commercialization Program.

The Peterhead project in northeast Scotland would involve capturing around 90% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from part of the existing gas-fired power station at Peterhead, then transporting and storing it in a depleted gas field beneath the North Sea. Partners are Shell and SSE.

The White Rose project in northern England would capture 90% of the CO2 from a new coal-fired power station at the Drax site in North Yorkshire, before transporting and storing it in a saline aquifer beneath the southern North Sea. Partners are Alstom, Drax Power, BOC, and National Grid.

DECC expects the projects to proceed on the following timeline:

  • By summer 2013: Signature of front-end engineering and design contracts with two projects
  • By early 2015: Final investment decisions from DECC taken on up to two projects; construction starts
  • 2016-2020: Projects become operational.

3/21/2013