The largest landowners in the UK – The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland – have launched a survey aimed at current and potential developers of carbon capture, storage and utilization sites (CCUS).
Its goal is to identify what requirements market participants have and inform the prerequisites the North Sea Transit Authority (NSTA) will set for upcoming leasing rounds.
Questions cover topics like store numbers, site capacity and injection rates that will developers are planning for 2035 and 2050. There are also qualitative questions aimed at learning more about developers’ perspective on the challenges they are currently facing, as well as the opportunities they’d like to see developed.
“The UK is at a critical juncture for CCUS development, and we must continue the momentum toward our goals for 2030,” commented Nicola Clay, Head of The Crown Estate New Ventures for Marine. “CCUS development is key to how we unlock the full potential of the UK seabed and its contribution to building a net zero future.”
Philippa Parmiter, Gas Storage Development Manager for Crown Estate Scotland added: “We are already enabling the decarbonization of the UK’s energy network by supporting the leasing of offshore wind,” said “CCUS is another key ingredient in helping to achieve a net-zero future, and this engagement program will help bring that ambition closer.”
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One of the reasons the survey has become pertinent is the competing demand for access to the seabed according to The Crown Estate. Wind projects and existing oil and gas infrastructure overlap with potential carbon capture sites and infrastructure and some projects will likely be co-located.
In December 2022 the NSTA updated its carbon storage permit guidance as part of the next round of licenses. Earlier in 2022 it completed the first round of carbon storage licensing which attracted 26 bids for the 13 areas that were on offer.
The UK Government has previously said its aim is to have four active carbon capture and storage sites in its shelf by 2030, both in Scottish and English waters.
Other countries like Norway are also progressing with their carbon capture storage locations, recently announcing a second group of sites is available for development.
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