NSTA launches second UK offshore carbon storage licensing round

Britain’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is offering 14 sites offshore England and Scotland for exploration and appraisal under a new carbon storage licensing round.

The areas, which cover certain depleted hydrocarbon fields and saline aquifers, were identified following a "Call for Nominations" to the industry earlier this year and consultations with The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland.

Nine of the areas are in English waters and five are offshore Scotland. Companies that are successful in their bids will need to obtain a seabed agreement from either Crown Estate Scotland or The Crown Estate before progressing their projects.

Following the UK’s first carbon storage licensing round in September 2023, the NSTA issued 21 carbon storage licenses. Of the proposed projects, Endurance offshore Teesside and HyNet in Liverpool Bay have since secured storage permits.

Both are thought capable of storing up to 100 MMt of CO₂.

The present licensing round runs through March 24, 2026. The NSTA will seek to award licenses in 2027.

NEP consultations closing next week

Recently, the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), developing the Endurance project, started the statutory consultation for its proposed Humber Carbon Capture Pipeline.

The underground onshore pipeline system, with above-ground installations and a pumping facility, would transport CO₂ from carbon capture projects across the Humber region for permanent storage beneath the North Sea.

Consultations are due to close on Dec. 17.