The UK government has released a statement to the markets about the Carbon Capture and Storage Competition in response to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
HM Government has confirmed that the £1 billion ring-fenced capital budget for the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Competition is no longer available.
The government said in a statement that “this decision means that the CCS Competition cannot proceed on its current basis. We will engage closely with the bidders on the implications of this decision for them.”
Scotland energy minister Fergus Ewing called the decision a “disgrace”.
“This should have been a huge industrial opportunity. Instead the decision to pull the plug on the CCS programme, to meet a deeply flawed austerity agenda, is breathtakingly short-sighted, even for this UK Government.
“It shows complete disregard for tackling climate change, utter indifference to developing the crucial new technologies that will cut emissions and is another UK government hammer blow to energy generation in Scotland.”
The UK has 30% of Europe’s CO2 storage capacity alongside an oil and gas infrastructure, which can be utilised for CCS.
DECC’s CCS Commercialisation Programme had been running for 10 years.
In a statement, SSE said: “Whilst SSE appreciates that being in government involves taking difficult decisions, it is extremely disappointed by today’s announcement that the government is removing all committed public support for the demonstration of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the UK.
“SSE believes this decision represents a significant missed opportunity for the UK.”
On a separate note, the Spending Review set out at least £250m in funding for small nuclear modular reactors (SMRs) over the next five years.
This will include a competition to identify the best value SMR design for the UK, which the Treasury said will “pave the way towards building one of the world’s first small modular reactors in the UK in the 2020s”.
Detailed plans for the competition will be brought forward early next year.
Image: 3 Whitehall Place (Iesteph)
