An industrial-scale gas-fired power plant that will employ carbon capture and storage (CCS) to mitigate its emissions has been shortlisted to receive UK Government support.
BP and Equinor are proposing the Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT) joint venture. The gas-fired power plant will have the capacity to generate 860 MW of electricity, enough to supply around 1.3 million homes. The power plant will be the first to capture most of its carbon emissions, which will then be transported for storage under the North Sea.
The two companies had originally planned to make a final investment decision on the project this year, but a statement from Equinor implied that it had been delayed by a year:
“The decision paves the way for the project to enter into negotiations with the UK government on commercial terms, with a planned final investment decision in 2024, to be operational by 2027.”
BP, which also makes the Castrol lubricant and grease range, also had its H2Teeside blue hydrogen project shortlisted as part of the East Coast Cluster. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, with the associated carbon emissions also being mostly captured.
Another CCS-enabled gas-fired power plant at Keadby near Scunthorpe and a blue hydrogen plant at Saltend Chemicals Park near Hull, both proposed by Equinor, did not make the shortlist. However, the company indicated it may submit further bids for the projects in future. The UK Government has said the announced clusters are not final and may be expanded in the future if the viability of other projects improve.
