A number of the oil and gas industry’s biggest players have joined forces to speed up the decarbonisation of industry and power.
The North Endurance Partnership (NEP) brings together BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell, Total and National Grid with the aim of developing offshore carbon dioxide (CO2) transport and storage infrastructure in the UK North Sea.
The initiative will aid plans to establish decarbonised industrial clusters in the north-east of England as part of the proposed Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) projects.
Both schemes aim to go live by 2026 with the goal of achieving net zero as early as 2030 through a combination of carbon capture, hydrogen and fuel-switching.
If successful, it’s claimed NEP, which is being headed up BP, will decarbonise almost half of the UK’s industrial emissions.
CO2 emissions will be transported from NZT and ZCH via an offshore pipeline network to offshore geological storage ducts beneath the UK North Sea.
As part of the launch, NEP has submitted a bid for funding through Phase 2 of the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge in an effort to accelerate the deployment of the grid.
The application follows approval by industry regulator the Oil and Gas Authority of the addition of BP and Equinor, alongside National Grid, to the Endurance carbon storage licence.
The £170 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge is part of a wider £4.7 billion Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge Fund set up by the UK Government with the intention of addressing industrial and societal challenges using domestic research and development.
© Atkinson, David James (CHAPPLE)Andy Lane, vice president of CCUS solutions at BP and managing director for Net Zero Teesside, said: “The formation of the Northern Endurance Partnership is another significant milestone towards developing the offshore infrastructure that will be needed to safely transport and store CO2 from CCUS projects along England’s east coast. T
“The partnership and our joint bid demonstrate industry’s willingness to come together and collaborate wherever possible to accelerate making CCUS a reality in the UK, helping to decarbonise the local economy and contributing to the UK’s climate goals.”
Grete Tveit, senior vice president for low carbon solutions at Equinor, said: “Carbon capture and storage is a crucial technology for reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and we are committed to working with others to create real change. We believe that with our partners in the Humber, Teesside and the Northern Endurance Partnership we can deliver deep decarbonisation of these major UK industrial clusters using CCUS and hydrogen, safeguarding jobs and helping develop world-leading low carbon expertise that can play a leading role in the UK’s journey to net zero by 2050.”
Jon Butterworth, managing director for National Grid Ventures, said: “National Grid sits at the heart of the UK’s energy system and we want to contribute to the economic recovery through investing in solutions to support a net zero future.
“The Northern Endurance Partnership will channel the extensive experience of its members to develop and deliver the offshore transport and storage infrastructure we need to unlock the enormous benefits of deploying CCUS across the Humber and Teesside.
“We’re delighted to start working together with five really world class energy companies to deliver a solution that will play a critical role in decarbonising the UK’s largest industrial heartland and protecting tens of thousands of jobs in the process.”
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