Alder Bioinsights News Review: Bioenergy Issue 154, January 2025

Foreword

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced the signing of contracts for UK’s first carbon capture project. The East Coast Cluster based in Teesside is now set to start construction of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) infrastructure later this year. This is latest milestone in the CCUS roadmap launched by the Government in December 2023. The road map covers two Track-1 projects, the East Coast Cluster alongside HyNet, and two Track-2 projects, Acorn in Scotland and the Viking cluster in the Humber. Last October, the government approved £21.7bn in funding for Track-1 clusters, providing the financing for the construction work.

The pioneering deals between the government and Northern Endurance Partnership mean that the construction is now set to start in mid-2025. The supply chain contracts worth £4bn in investment will directly support 2,000 jobs in the North East, and possibly tens of thousands more across the UK. NEP is the designated operator for transporting and storing CO₂ captured through the project, the partnership was created through a joint venture between Equinor, BP, and TotalEnergies. The opening of the facilities is expected in 2028, with the infrastructure able to transport and permanently store up to an initial 4 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.

NEP has successfully completed its first environment statement for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the UK, marking the first for such a project…