£1.5bn Teesside carbon capture scheme consented
The Government has granted approval to build the world’s first gas-fired power station with carbon capture, usage and storage capability on Teesside.
Net Zero Teesside (NZT) Power – under development by partners bp and Equinor at Teesworks – aims to become the UK’s first decarbonised industrial cluster as early as 2030.
The £1.5bn project could create and support up to 4,000 jobs during construction.
The final hurdle before construction can start on the first of a generation of carbon capture schemes is a final investment decision from NZT Power partners, expected this year.
In the meantime, extensive work to clear and prepare the former Redcar Blast Furnace site ahead of construction is continuing.
Carbon capture scheme comprises:
A CO2 gathering network of pipeline connections from industrial facilities on Teesside to transport the captured CO2
An 850MW combined cycle gas turbine electricity generating station, cooling water, gas and electricity grid connections and CO2 capture;
A CO2 gathering/booster station to receive the captured CO2 from the gathering network and CCGT generating station
An onshore section of a CO2 transport pipeline for the onward transport of the captured CO2 to a suitable offshore geological storage site in the North Sea.
Costain recently completed the front-end engineering design stage for key onshore elements.
This included the FEED design for NZT Power includes natural gas supply pipework and a high voltage 275kV power network.
For the Northern Endurance Partnership, formed to gather together major industrial users in the Teesside area, its design work focused on the onshore CO2 gathering network.
This involves a 12km, 22” pipeline connecting industrial facilities with an initial capacity to transport around 4m tonnes of CO2 per annum to be securely stored under the North Sea.
Teesworks chairman Chris Musgrave said: “We’ve been hard at work preparing the land, planning consent has been secured, and now nothing’s holding us back in getting this transformational scheme off the ground.
“Net Zero Teesside Power is a key part of the puzzle to our carbon capture and storage ambitions, feeding into the net zero ambitions of existing businesses and becoming a prime asset for others looking to relocate here. This shows the speed at which we’re moving for the good of local people and the region.”
The proposed power station will generate up to 860 megawatts of low carbon electricity – enough to power up to 1.3 million UK homes.
Up to two million tonnes of CO2 emissions from the power station will be captured each year – emissions which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
The captured CO2 will then be transported by the Northern Endurance Partnership by pipeline to a geological storage site under the North Sea, where it will be permanently and safely stored.