Back in 2020, energy giants and businesses operating in Teesside in the North East of England, joined forces to establish the Net Zero Teesside carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) cluster to reduce the emissions in the area. The companies behind the project are BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell, and Total, with BP leading as operator.
Now plans for the 145 kilometers long Teesside pipeline have gone out for consultation to “key stakeholders and the public”, according to the Northern Endurance Partnership that is responsible for the scheme’s CCUS system.
The Teesside project’s goal is to help cut the UK’s industry’s entire carbon emissions in half. The country’s climate change target is to reduce industrial emissions with at least two thirds by 2035 and 90% by 2050 in order to meet its ultimate net zero by 2050 commitment.
For that purpose, the UK Government will invest up to £1 billion ($1.36 billion) to support the establishment of carbon capture and storage in four industrial clusters in the North-east, the Humber, North-west, Scotland, and Wales.
The Net Zero Teesside initiative includes the construction of a 145 km long pipeline that would “safely and securely” transport CO2 emissions to a storage site beneath the North Sea. Another pipeline is also planned from the sister project Net Zero Humber that will also lead to the North Sea storage site.
The areas targeted by the project for decarbonization are responsible for almost half of the UK’s carbon emissions from industrial clusters. One of the benefits of the project is to create thousands of new high-quality jobs and safeguard up to 70% of Teesside’s existing heavy industry workforce.
The Net Zero Teesside carbon capture initiative is moving forward to the next phase of its progress. The project would help establish the UK’s leadership in the energy transition and facilitate the large-scale deployment of carbon capture technology.
