Peterhead on track to host Scotland’s first carbon-capture project as deal announced

By Allister Thomas and Erikka Askeland

July 13 2022, 1:27 pm

A power station in Peterhead will be developed into a CCS plant by SSE Thermal and Norwegian energy giant, Equinor.

A major contract has been awarded for what is expected to become Scotland’s first carbon capture-enabled power plant at Peterhead.

Developers SSE Thermal and Equinor have handed a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to a consortium of international firms including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Worley and Tecnicas Reunidas.

The trio, which hail from Japan, Australia and Spain respectively, will deliver a detailed plan for the Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station.

Over 1,000 jobs expected

The project is expected to support around 1,000 jobs in the construction phase, with dozens of long-term roles to operate the plant.

It is envisaged the power station will have generating capacity of up to 910MW, just over the contracted output of the 100-turbine Moray East wind farm offshore.

It will connect into the Scottish Cluster’s CO2 storage infrastructure – led by the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at nearby St Fergus.

Doing so will allow major decarbonisation of power generation, capturing 1.5 million tonnes of carbon; 5% of UK government targets for 2030.

Bradley Andrews, president at Worley and speaking on behalf of consortium partners Mitsubishi and Tecnicas Reunidas, said: “This project will produce flexible and clean power allowing further renewable generation while reducing carbon emissions at scale.

“It’s a landmark project for Scotland in its ambitions to help decarbonise industrial clusters in the UK – and it supports our efforts in delivering a more sustainable world.”

Clarity needed on Scottish Cluster

Plans for the project were lodged with the Scottish Government in March.

A recent report on the project estimated it could be worth £60 million to the economy of the north-east if it goes ahead.

The report by Biggar further estimated that £2.2bn will be invested across the development, construction and first quarter of a century of the facility’s operational life.

Once fully active, the power station will prop up around 240 green jobs on an annual basis, and add around £25m to the local economy.

The UK Government has a £1bn competition to enable four CCS projects across the country.

Artists impression of proposed Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station next to the existing power station — Visualisation of the proposed Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station to the right of the existing station.

As things stand, the Scottish Cluster remains a “reserve” on the track 1 announcement last year, but no clarity has been given on how it will progress.

It’s believed that it should be included in Track 2, but it’s unclear as to when that will be announced.

SSE said it expects Westminster will announce which projects are progressing to negotiations as part of a “cluster sequencing process” this month.

Catherine Raw, managing director at SSE Thermal, said: “As we begin work with the consortium on the engineering design, we hope to see the UK Government recognise the need for multiple power-CCS plants when it provides an update on cluster sequencing later this month.

Catherine Raw managing director of SSE Thermal — Catherine Raw, managing director of SSE Thermal, said government must give clarity.

“Crucially, it must give clarity on the Scottish Cluster and accelerate its development, which is necessary if Scotland’s net zero ambitions are to be achieved.”

Grete Tveit, senior vice president for low carbon solutions at Equinor, said: “This is an important step in realising our ambition to build Scotland’s first flexible power station equipped with carbon capture technology.

“By providing low carbon back-up power to complement intermittent renewables generation, Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station will improve energy security through the energy transition.”