Plans for a carbon capture project and storage project in Yorkshire have taken a step closer to securing a £250million European cash boost.
The White Rose project, being developed at the Drax power station in Yorkshire, would generate low-carbon electricity for more than 630,000 homes and transport the captured CO2 for storing under the North Sea.
Now the project looks set to receive a share of a £1.2billion EU prize fund after the Government put it forward for cash from Europe’s NER300 funds, making it the only CCS project in the running.
“The UK has confirmed the White Rose CCS project,” said an EU spokesman.
“The project will hence be considered for an award expected by mid-2014. If awarded, this project could boost the local economy and create jobs when they are most needed.”
Last year Shell and SSE ruled out applying for a share of the fund for the proposed carbon capture and storage scheme for Peterhead Power Station.
At the time it said working on Peterhead as part of the Government’s carbon capture commercialisation project was its priority.
Concerns had been raised that gas-fired projects like Peterhead were unlikely to receive cash from the fund.
The Drax project is being developed alongside Alstom and BOC, and would see a new 426MW coal-fired power station fitted with carbon capture technology being developed in Yorkshire.
It would capture 90% of the CO2 generated from the power station, which would otherwise be expelled into the atmosphere. The captured carbon would be stored beneath the North Sea.
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