The two projects that were named as the government’s preferred bidders in the £1 billion commercialisation competition earlier in the year, are said to be making steady progress behind the scenes.
Sources close to the schemes have told Utility Week that an announcement from one or both of the Peterhead Project in Aberdeenshire and the White Rose project in Yorkshire is expected before the end of the year.
A spokesperson for the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) said that for the two preferred bidders the process “is still going well”.
For the UK’s other CCS projects, including the Captain Clean Energy Project in Scotland, the Teesside Low Carbon Project, and the Don Valley Power Project in Yorkshire, the CCSA said that it is “vital” the Contracts for Differences are designed with CCS in mind, but there are “some positive signs that the government is turning its attention to this issue”.
However, progress for the projects that failed to be named as the government’s preferred bidders has slowed, and one source said: “Nobody has any belief that they should be doing anything very active in terms of development and it does seem as thought he CCS programme does seem to have stalled.”
This comes after shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex warned that, without more vocal support from the government, CCS projects in the UK could fold.
He said: “Anything less risks those backing CCS projects losing heart because of lukewarm dithering of the Tory-led government.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the government is “absolutely committed” to CCS and that the UK “has one of the best offers of any government anywhere to support this strategically critical new technology”.
In a statement, Decc added the government is providing £1 billion for the two CCS projects, and that a route to market for other CCS projects is being provided via Electricity Market Reform.