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Carbon capture and storage

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Pounds for pylons offer has 59% chance of halting delays
The government has insisted its proposed £1.5 billion package of payments to communities hosting grid projects will have only a negligible impact on wider bills, while also admitting it offers only a slightly better than even chance of thwarting delays.
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Government and Ofgem raise concerns over grid reforms
The annual application windows proposed by the Electricity System Operator as part of long-term reforms to the connections process may not work for some types of projects, the government and energy regulator have cautioned. The comments were included in the six-point Connections Action Plan issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Ofgem.
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‘Triage’ process to prioritise strategic connections
The government will manage a “triage” process for prioritising the connection of strategically important energy projects as part of its joint action plan with Ofgem for speeding up grid connections. Working with the regulator, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will establish a Connections Delivery Board to oversee the implementation of the six-point plan, which aims to cut the average wait for a connection from 5 years to 6 months.  
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Latest in Carbon capture and storage

Short-term support for green innovations puts net zero target at risk
The government has been warned that its tendency to implement complex short-term support mechanisms for progressing green technologies is putting the country’s overarching net zero ambitions at risk. In a damning 25-page report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) calls for the government to reform its funding mechanisms to provide certainty to businesses looking to invest.
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Government urged to fast track ETS linkup with EU
Energy UK has called on the government to “press ahead” with linking the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to its European Counterpart to drive up the carbon price, increasing revenues and avoiding huge export taxes for UK businesses. It comes as analysis by the trade association has revealed that between April and the beginning of October this year, the UK ETS raised over £1bn less for the Treasury than if prices had remained at 2022/23 levels.
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CCC: Net zero row back ‘likely to increase bills’
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to row back on several net zero targets is likely to hit consumers hardest, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC). The government’s statutory adviser has warned that Sunak’s net zero speech last month increases the risk of the UK missing its 2050 decarbonisation target and is also likely to increase customer bills and motoring costs.
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Crown Estate awards ‘landmark’ lease agreement for CCS project
The Crown Estate has awarded a “landmark” lease agreement for a planned carbon store for one of the UK’s first net zero industrial clusters. The Endurance reservoir – a saline aquifer in rocks deep under the North Sea – is being developed by the Northern Endurance Partnership, comprising BP, Equinor and Total Energies.
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Net zero tsar claims Sunak’s speech ‘changes nothing’
Rishi Sunak’s recent announcement on the UK’s green initiatives has been branded “fundamentally dishonest” by the author of the government’s review of net zero. Ex-energy minister Chris Skidmore MP criticised the prime minister for touting his Downing Street announcement a fortnight ago as a shift in policy, while speaking at a fringe session at the Conservative party organised by the IPPR thinktank. He said that “nothing has changed” because policy had already allowed for exceptions to the phase out of internal combustion engine small vehicles and fossil fuel boilers by the target dates of 2030 and 2035 respectively.  
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Government refuses to raise carbon capture power targets
The government has resisted pressure to step up the pace of targets for rolling out carbon capture power plants. The UK has already set a target that as much as 10GW of power plants fitted with CCUS (carbon capture, use and storage) technology could be required by 2035 in order to meet emissions target reductions for the sixth carbon budget, which covers 2033 to 2037. A response to a consultation on a proposed future policy framework for delivering power CCUS, which concluded in October last year, says a number of respondents suggested this level would be the minimum needed.
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Net zero tsar says Sunak on ‘wrong side of history’
The prime minister’s support for new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences has been criticised by the government’s own net zero adviser, who has called for an emergency Parliamentary debate on the issue. Rishi Sunak used a trip to Scotland to confirm 100 licences will be issued in September to extract oil and gas from the North Sea, with the government open to further licensing rounds in the future.
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Weekend press round-up: Decision to drop social energy tariff ‘betrays most vulnerable’
Fuel poverty campaigners have accused the government of betraying the most vulnerable people in society after failing to include a previously promised social tariff in energy market reforms. Also in the latest round-up of the weekend news, prime minister Rishi Sunak confirms millions of pounds of funding for a carbon capture project in Scotland and a new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats finds a quarter of swimmers may avoid the seas this year because of concerns over sewage dumping.
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‘Not a single person in supply chain’ thinks UK will hit net zero targets
Not a single person in the supply chain believes UK net zero targets will be achieved. That is the damning conclusion of the Energy Industries Council’s (EIC) annual Survive & Thrive report into global energy supply chains. Based on the views of 96 supply chain bosses, the EIC report concludes that “widespread delays in project funding strongly signposts that the UK is not going to meet its legally binding 2050 net zero target, and neither will Scotland meet its 2045 target”.
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Electricity distribution earnings push National Grid profits to £4.6bn
National Grid has seen its profits rise to almost £4.6 billion due to the continued strong performance of its newly acquired electricity distribution business. The surge in earnings comes as electricity networks find themselves in the spotlight over the extremely long wait times for new connections to the power grid. Utility Week spoke to National Grid chief financial officer Andy Agg about its efforts to speed up connections.
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Scale of energy pledges raises workload concerns
Concerns have been raised about the amount of work that the government has pledged to do in relation to energy security and net zero. Following last week’s splurge of ‘Green Day’ announcements, industry figures have told Utility Week that they are sceptical that all the work promised will be carried out on time.
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Carbon capture and hydrogen projects selected for funding
Dozens of carbon capture and hydrogen production projects have been selected to receive government funding alongside the launch of its new Energy Security Plan. The projects include a new gas-fired power station and several ‘blue’ hydrogen production facilities that are planning to connect to the carbon capture and storage networks being developed as part of the East Coast and HyNet industrial clusters.
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