However, the NAO’s report into the four year project said the relatively small amount (£64 million) spent by government on the project could help reduce the cost of developing the technology in the future. The report said if the department absorbed the lessons from the exercise, it could help make future competitions more successful.
“In the context of value for money, developing new technologies is an inherently risky undertaking. Taking calculated risks is perfectly acceptable if those risks are managed effectively; but in this case the department of energy and climate change, and its predecessor, took too long to get to grips with the significant technical, commercial and regulatory risks involved,” said Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office.
“Four years down the road, commercial scale carbon capture and storage technology has still to be developed. The Department must learn the lessons of the failure of this project if further time is not to be lost, and value for money achieved on future projects.”
See next week’s print issue of Utility Week for the full story.