Scotland’s net zero infrastructure receives major boost
Scotland took a step closer to its net zero carbon goals today [17th March 2021] with the announcement of over £30m of UK Government funding for a suite of initiatives linked to the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
The industry match funded initiative, called Scotland’s Net Zero Infrastructure (SNZI) programme, brings together academic and industrial partners to develop a major package of work designed to progress a national low carbon infrastructure.
They include:
- The detailed engineering required to move the Acorn CCS and Hydrogen projects to a final investment decision
- Developing a new CCS-equipped power station at Peterhead which would become an early customer for the Acorn infrastructure
- An assessment of the potential to re-use onshore pipelines to transport CO2 from the central belt of Scotland to the Acorn Project
- An engineering design programme for a carbon capture system on a gas-fired power station in Grangemouth
- Development of a “fabrication yard ready” design of a new class of ship which can service the needs of coastal CO2 emitters around the UK for delivery at Peterhead port
This important programme of new work and infrastructure reuse will provide a significant boost to the region’s fast-growing low carbon credentials, paving the way for onshore and offshore developments totalling in excess of £3 billion. It will also map out the longer-term economic impacts, job preservation and creation opportunities as Scotland transitions away from oil and gas to low carbon fuels like hydrogen and CO2 removal technologies such as CCS.
The SNZI programme compliments work that is already underway on Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmap project. This funding will help enable the Acorn Project to be operational in the mid-2020s – a critical timeline to meet the UK’s ambitious net zero targets. Acorn has received match funding from the UK and Scottish Governments and has benefited from two rounds of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding from the European Commission.