The UK’s first ever carbon storage permit has been awarded to BP, TotalEnergies and Equinor’s joint venture project, the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP).
UK regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), handed the consortium behind the UK’s leading carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme the permit on Tuesday.
This allows the project, located off the north-east coast of England, to store up to “hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide,” by granting permission for the team behind it to install infrastructure at the site.
The partners have estimated this will drive £4 billion worth of contracts and create 2,000 jobs in the region.
© Supplied by EquinorThe permit kicks off the start of “execution phase” ahead of first commercial operations from 2027 and start-up of CO2 injection, expected in 2028.
The grant has been awarded to the Endurance site (also known as the East Coast Cluster), which is located around 47 miles (75km) east of Flamborough Head, off Teesside on England’s east coast.
Stuart Payne, NSTA chief executive, said: “This is a truly historic day. Carbon storage has been long planned but is now becoming a reality.”
Permit set to unlock 2,000 jobs in north-east of England
NEP, a joint venture between BP (LON: BP), Equinor (OSLO: EQNR), and TotalEnergies (PAR: TTE), is the CO2 transportation and storage provider for the East Coast Cluster (ECC).
The project’s partners have made a final investment decision (FID) following the permit award. FID from the NEP had been expected in September of this year, the group said in March.
Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president of marketing, midstream and processing (MMP) at Equinor, commented: “It is a major milestone to have agreed final investment decision and financial close on two of the UK’s first carbon capture, transport and storage infrastructure projects.
“This demonstrates how the industry, alongside the UK Government, have progressed a business model for new power supply and carbon capture, transport and storage services to decarbonise the most carbon intensive region in the UK.”
Alongside Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power), NEP forms part of the East Coast Cluster, a major carbon capture and net zero power initiative across the Teesside area, with the 860MW Net Zero Teesside gas-fired power plant storing its emissions via the NEP carbon capture and storage (CCS) site.
© Supplied by px GroupArnaud Le Foll, senior vice president of new business – carbon neutrality, for TotalEnergies added: “Northern Endurance Partnership is a frontrunner project, and we look forward to transporting and permanently storing CO2 from one of the UK’s largest industrial regions.”
In addition to the granted permit, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) also handed NEP an “economic licence to net zero North Sea storage”.
Louise Kingham, senior vice president of Europe and head of country, UK for BP said: “These projects represent another step forward for BP’s overall investment plans in the UK. They harness the skills, talent and determination of an established industrial region and apply them to the UK’s own energy transition.”
Payne added: “The energy industry already has the infrastructure, a world class supply chain and highly-skilled people who can drive the change we need to maintain a thriving energy sector which offers quality jobs and leads the way to net zero. Now let’s put them to work.”
Getting the ball rolling on UK CCS
The NSTA says that the permit will support fellow carbon capture storage (CCS) sites NZT Power, BP’s H2Teesside and Teesside Hydrogen CO2 Capture.
The East Coast cluster was one of the two projects to win funding in the UK government’s flagship CCS scheme, the Track 1 process, alongside HyNet in the North West of England.
It beat out Aberdeenshire’s Acorn project which was supported in a second round track 2 process.
In October, the UK government confirmed the two track 1 projects in Teesside and the North West would be allocated £21.7bn in government support over the next 25 years.
In addition to the permit awarded to the partnership, another one is expected to be granted by the NSTA “in the coming months”.
The NSTA wrote that it is “hoped that dozens of storage sites could be permitted every year” as the UK looks to deliver on its ambitious CCS targets.
The UK has a potential storage capacity of 78 gigatonnes (GT), in natural aquifers and depleted reservoirs and the government aims to store 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
The NSTA boss continued: “For a long time we have talked about the possibility of carbon storage; we have often touted the UK’s vast geographic potential of 78GT, we have drawn up plans for a carbon storage economy and we have grasped the prospect of new jobs. Now we are making it happen.”
£4bn already handed out in contracts
Earlier this year NEP alongside NZT Power awarded £4 billion in contracts to service companies as the duo forged ahead with the carbon storage project.
The engineering, procurement, and construction work was handed out to nine firms across eight contract packages.
The likes of Wood, TechnipFMC, and Saipem were all listed among contract awardees.
Net zero to combat ‘tyrants like Putin’
Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “This is only the start. Our plan for change puts more money in working people’s pockets, secures home-grown energy and protects billpayers, so tyrants like Putin can’t attack the living standards of working people again.”
NEP director Chris Daykin said: “This is a landmark moment in the development of CCS infrastructure and the UK’s ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
“With joint backing from shareholders and the UK Government, Northern Endurance Partnership is entering its execution phase ahead of start-up expected in 2028”.
Ian Hunter, managing director, Net Zero Teesside Power, added: “Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of work to make Net Zero Teesside Power a reality.
“As the project progresses into the execution phase, we look forward to delivering on our ambition to create and support thousands of jobs whilst generating flexible, dispatchable low-carbon power for the UK.”
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