In the United Kingdom (UK), OGCI Climate Investments – the US$1 billion investment fund of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) has announced the formation of a consortium of OGCI members – BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total, with BP as operator – to accelerate the development of the "Net Zero Teesside" project, previously known as the "Clean Gas Project".
The partners bring the global experience of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology and are committed to working closely with the UK government and local stakeholders, including the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, to develop the Net Zero Teesside project to deliver the UK’s first zero-carbon cluster.
According to a statement, the project will decarbonise local industry by building a transportation and storage system to gather industrial carbon dioxide (CO2), compress it and store it safely in a reservoir under the North Sea. The transportation and storage infrastructure will encourage new investment in the region from industries that wish to store or use CO2.
In addition, a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility with carbon capture technology will provide low carbon power as a complement to renewable energy sources and underpin the investment in the infrastructure. The project is said to have an “ambitious yet achievable potential start-up date of the mid-2020s”, with the right government support.
Net Zero Teesside is a demonstration of OGCI’s commitment to accelerating CCUS on a global scale. It’s the anchor project, first ideated at the UK Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), developed into an industrial carbon cluster within OGCI Climate Investments and now, the first hub within OGCI’s CCUS Kickstarter initiative. This transfer of ownership to the OGCI consortium is proof of how OGCI’s initiative is successfully supporting emerging hubs, said Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments.
Land for development secured
Located in Teesside’s industrial cluster, Net Zero Teesside can play a significant role in local and national plans for regional development and in the UK’s industrial strategy for a low carbon Northern Powerhouse.
Its advantageous location, advanced planning stage, the expertise of our world-class project partners and government support for decarbonisation in the UK mean Net Zero Teesside is uniquely positioned to become the UK’s first decarbonised cluster. The formation of such a powerful partnership led by BP demonstrates the industry’s commitment to the UK government’s net zero targets. We’re hugely excited to see Teesside back at the forefront of UK industry and want the project to progress further, said Andy Lane from BP and Managing Director of Net Zero Teesside,
With a start-up date of around five years, the project aims to capture up to six million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year – equivalent to the annual energy use of up to two million homes in the UK.
Net Zero Teesside represents the next step in our ambitions for Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool to become a pioneer in clean energy, driving almost half a billion pounds into the regional economy and boosting the wider UK by £3.2 billion. This world-leading industrial-scale decarbonisation project will safeguard and create 5 500 good quality, well-paid jobs for local people. It will act as a beacon for new technologies and further investment as other companies are attracted to our area, while helping the UK achieve its clean energy potential, said Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor,
Net Zero Teesside would be the first major development to be based on the South Tees Development Corporation site. The launch event comes just days after the Tees Valley Mayor struck a landmark deal to secure the land at the former SSI steelworks site and bring it back into public ownership, ready for future redevelopment.
Net Zero Teesside has also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with three industrial partners, which the consortium says “demonstrates the strong commitment to decarbonising existing local industry” and support the “continued engagement between the parties in evaluating the technical and commercial case” for the capture of CO2 from the industrial plant for safe storage.
