Negative Emissions Technologies (NETS): Feasibility Study - Technical Appendices

Appendix 4. CCUS in the UK

The UK Government is in the process of allocating £1B of funding to CCUS projects, in a bid to decarbonise heavy industry. There is an expectation that this funding will help reduce CCUS costs by 50% by 2050^[22], helping spur further deployment and investment from the private sector into CCUS.

Previous CCUS UK pilot projects

In the UK there were three previous CCS pilot projects: the Aberthaw CCS Facility operating between 2013-2014, capturing 50tCO₂/day from a coal power plant in South Wales^[200]; the Ferrybridge Carbon Capture Pilot plant operating between 2011-2013, capturing 100tCO₂/day from a 5MW coal-biomass plant located in Leeds^[201]; and the 40MWth Renfrew oxy-fuel coal-CCS project operating between 2007-2011.

Projects under Phase 2 CCUS Funding

After the East Coast and HyNETs Clusters received Track 1 funding under the CCUS Fund^[18], BEIS allocated Phase 2 funding to projects categorised under Power CCUS, Hydrogen, and Industrial carbon capture (see for further information). Please note that none of these projects are located within Scotland.

Power CCUS

Funding has been allocated to one oxyfuel and two post-combustion natural gas fired power plants, located in Teeside and Scunthorpe, which will provide a combined power output of 2.12 GW and capture 4.3 MtCO₂/year^[82]. These will help form part of the East Coast Cluster.

Hydrogen CCUS

Six projects are dedicated to blue hydrogen production via SMR-CCS of natural gas, four of which are located in the East Coast Cluster and the remaining two near the HyNETs Cluster. Combined, these will provide at least 2 GW of hydrogen and capture 14 MtCO₂/year by 2030.

Industrial carbon capture (ICC)

Thirteen projects are dedicated to industrial capture, two of which are hydrogen focussed and hence have been included in the above section. The sites covered include an ammonia production facility owned by CF Fertilisers; four EfW-CCS sites, half of which are located in the East Coast Cluster and the other half near HyNet, providing at least 148 MW of power and capturing 1.4 Mt/year by 2030; three cement facilities, one of which produces lime using low carbon hydrogen, one that utilises lime to capture CO₂ directly from the air, and the other a post-combustion cement-CCS plant capturing 0.8Mt/year; and two oil-refineries located in the East Coast Cluster, performing post-combustion capture to sequester 1.6 Mt/year by 2030. There is one project named ‘Norsea Carbon Capture’ which lacks any supporting information to expand upon.

Additional Scottish CCUS projects (Not funded by phase 2 CCUS fund)

Power CCUS

There are two natural gas fired CCS plants aiming to capture a combined 4.5 MtCO₂/year by 2026; the Caledonia Clean Energy plant located in Grangemouth (3MtCO₂/year) and Peterhead Power Station (1.5MtCO₂/year). The Caledonia project has potential to co-produce blue hydrogen^[202], whilst the Peterhead Power Station will utilise the Acorn CCS T&S infrastructure.

Hydrogen and Industrial carbon capture (ICC)

The Acorn CCS and hydrogen site is planning to repurpose the St Fergus Gas Terminal and pipeline with the aim to transport CO₂ by 2025. Within the first phase, 200MW of hydrogen will be produced and capture 0.4 MtCO₂/year, whilst CO₂ transport via the Feeder 10 pipeline will enable 10MtCO₂/year of capture by 2030^[203]. In terms of green hydrogen, the Fife Hydrogen Hub^[204] is working towards expanding their hydrogen network to supply domestic households. There is also potential for a future hydrogen Hub near Aberdeen, named H₂ Aberdeen, which is seeking to develop a hydrogen economy through hydrogen fuel HGVs, hydrogen district heating and national gas grid replacement^[205].

Non-Scottish additional CCUS projects

The projects discussed below were either not shortlisted for Phase 2 funding, are receiving other forms of public funds, or are relying on private investment.

Power CCS

The UK’s largest power station, Pembroke Power Station (2.2MW), is considering installing post-combustion capture and blending their natural gas feedstock with low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, whilst an additional two natural gas post-combustion plants are expected to be developed in the East Coast Cluster by 2027, producing at least 1.24 GW of power. In the southeast of England, it is planned that CO₂ T&S infrastructure will be installed in the Medway Hub, with CO₂ from the Grain Power Station, Damhead Power Station, and Isle of Grain LNG terminal be captured and stored in the North Sea^[47].

Hydrogen

Two sites located in the East Coast Cluster aim to produce at least 720 MW of blue hydrogen by 2027; the Northern Gas Network H₂1 in Hull and Killingholme CCS in Immingham, capturing a combined 1.6 MtCO₂/year^[20]. Project Cavendish located in the Isle of Grain (Kent) is planning to produce 700MW of blue hydrogen by 2026, leading to 1.2MtCO₂/year being captured.

Biofuels

All three biofuel projects eligible for Phase 2 CCUS funding were not shortlisted; nevertheless, these projects still appear to be going ahead with the proposed works. All projects are waste-to-fuel plants, two of which will be located in Teesside and Immingham (East Coast Cluster) and one in the Northwest (HyNETs Cluster). When completed, up to 1.65 Mt/year of waste will be processed to produce at least 240Ml/year of fuel and capture 240MtCO₂/year by 2027.

*Was an eligible project under Phase 2 but not shortlisted