A UK minister has pledged that a £1billion green energy fund earmarked for the north-east will not be axed in this month’s government spending review.
A carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme at Peterhead’s gas-fired power station is one of the two preferred bidders for the money.
However, Labour has repeatedly raised concerns about the coalition’s commitment to CCS projects, and asked energy ministers for fresh assurances at Westminster yesterday.
The UK Government will announce plans to cut spending by a further £11billion on June 26.
Labour’s shadow energy minister, Tom Greatrex, asked yesterday: “Can he (Energy Minister Gregory Barker) confirm that whatever else he has given up in his less-than-grand bargain with the Treasury on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s budget, that money is safeguarded for CCS in the next spending review period?”
The minister replied: “I am very happy to scotch the honourable gentleman’s baseless scaremongering and political point-scoring.
“The fact of the matter is that we are going forward with the CCS programme, and it is going to be successful, unlike Labour’s failed attempts at CCS.
“We have two preferred bidders in place, and it is backed by £1billion, putting the UK at the front of the global race for carbon capture and storage.”
Shell and SSE are driving forward plans for the Peterhead scheme.
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