St Fergus is at the heart of £31m investment in green revolution

An ambitious project to provide world-class, safe carbon storage capacity in the North Sea has been awarded £31 million by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The funding supports a £62 million programme which will boost Scotland’s economy, create new jobs and drastically reduce the country’s industrial carbon footprint.

Scotland’s Net Zero Infrastructure (SNZI) programme involves developing offshore and onshore resources to store carbon and produce low-carbon hydrogen as a more environmentally friendly energy source.

Work will focus on the Acorn carbon capture and storage project at St Fergus Gas Terminal, as well as exploring how to transport carbon dioxide to the new storage facilities from industries in the Central Belt.

The SNZI suite of initiatives will have far-reaching benefits, resulting in developments worth over £3 billion, creating and securing tens of thousands of jobs by 2050, and helping Scotland shift from its reliance on fossil fuels like oil and gas to ‘greener’ forms of energy.

Match-funded by industry, the SNZI programme is being led by energy company Pale Blue Dot and delivered alongside a range of academic and industrial partners.

Nick Cooper, CEO of Pale Blue Dot, said: “This funding for the Scottish Net Zero Infrastructure programme is a further endorsement of the broader Acorn Project and the crucial role it plays in delivering the UK and Scotland’s net zero plans while providing a significant boost to the region’s fast-growing low carbon credentials.”

Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has welcomed the UK Government’s support, providing a significant boost to the North-east’s fast-growing low carbon credentials.

“The UK Government believes this shift to a greener economy has the potential to create tens of thousands of sustainable jobs and opportunities for people here in Aberdeenshire,” he said.

“It also builds on the exciting news from Pale Blue Dot earlier this month of new private investment into the Acorn CCS and Hydrogen project at St Fergus.

“This is a much-needed and welcome announcement and a clear demonstration of the UK Government’s commitment to our local area, our local economy and local jobs.”

SNP candidate for Banffshire and Buchan Coast Karen Adam has welcomed the funding for the project at St Fergus.

But she says it pales into insignificance compared to the previously-promised £1 billion grant axed by the Conservative UK Government, which could have created 600 jobs in Peterhead while helping Scotland become a global leader in clean energy technology.

Ms Adam said: “The £31 million is very welcome but we’d be light years ahead of where we are now and our global competitors if the UK Government hadn’t pulled funding of a much larger magnitude from the Carbon Capture and Storage project all those years ago. It just goes to prove that the UK Government always turns up too late for Scotland.”

Source: buchanobserver.co.uk

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