The UK Government has announced £21.7 billion in funding over 25 years for two carbon capture sites in the North of England, which will remove 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
The new carbon capture and Carbon capture and utilisation (CCUS) enabled hydrogen projects will create 4,000 new jobs, the UK Government said.
CCUS technology removes CO2 emissions before it reaches the atmosphere and stores it safely beneath the seabed. The Climate Change Committee has described the technology as a necessity for meeting net zero targets.
The announcement comes 10 days before the government’s International Investment Summit. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband are visiting the North West today to confirm the funding for the two sites in Teesside and Merseyside.
Miliband first announced plans to develop carbon capture projects for power plants in 2009 during the last Labour government, however, there has been little progress since then.
The UK Government said it expects the two sites to bring in £8 billion of private investment into the Teesside and Merseyside communities.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented: “We’re reigniting our industrial heartlands by investing in the industry of the future.
“For the past 14 years, business has been second-guessing a dysfunctional government – which has set us back and caused an economic slump.
Today’s announcement will give industry the certainty it needs – committing to 25 years of funding in this groundbreaking technology.
“Today’s announcement will give industry the certainty it needs – committing to 25 years of funding in this groundbreaking technology – to help deliver jobs, kick-start growth, and repair this country once and for all.”
In July, the National Infrastructure Commission’s annual progress report recommended the UK Government ban new long-term contracts for Energy-from-Waste plants without carbon capture plans.
However, a study by Zero Waste Europe found sorting mixed waste before incineration is a more cost-effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than Carbon Capture and Storage.
Reacting to the announcement, Mike Maudsley, CEO enfinium, said: “Today’s funding announcement is a welcome commitment from the UK Government in the country’s carbon capture and storage industry.
“It will unlock billions of pounds of future investment from businesses like enfinium that are seeking to invest in clean growth.
“Projects like Parc Adfer in Deeside can support the continued build-out of the HyNet industrial cluster over the coming years, supporting green jobs and carbon negative power by 2030.”
enfinium launched the UK’s first carbon capture pilot at an EfW facility earlier this year. The project at enfinium’s Ferrybridge-1 EfW site in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, will run for at least 12 months.
