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Decarbonisation project in Teesside selected in UK Government’s competition

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Illustration of NZT Power
Illustration of NZT Power

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has announced that Equinor and bp’s carbon capture power project Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) has been selected among the first projects in the Government’s rollout of the first industrial Carbon Capture clusters in our industrial heartlands.

The decision paves the way for the project to enter into negotiations with the UK Government on commercial terms, with a planned Final Investment Decision in 2024, to be operational by 2027. It will connect to the East Coast Cluster’s CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, planned to serve both the Humber and Teesside industrial regions, which was selected by the UK Government to become one of the first ‘CCUS clusters’ in the UK. The recent UK Budget included £20bn investment for developing CCUS.

The bid for a new power station fitted with carbon capture technology in Teesside, NZT Power, developed in partnership with bp, further supports decarbonisation ambitions across the North East of England’s industrial regions. Critically, when commissioned it will provide the decarbonised flexible power for local homes and industry, complimenting growing intermittent renewable power such as that produced by the world's largest windfarm, Dogger Bank located off the Yorkshire coast, owned by Equinor and SSE.

Two other Equinor bids in the Humber region were not taken forward at this stage. These include a low carbon hydrogen project, H2H Saltend; and a new power station fitted with carbon capture technology at Keadby, developed in partnership with SSE Thermal.

The Government has confirmed a future ‘Track-1 Expansion Phase’ as well as a ‘Track-2 Phase’ which projects that have not been taken forward, or which did not submit bids into the current process, can bid into at a later date.

Grete Tveit, Senior Vice President of Equinor commented:
“We’re pleased that NZT Power has been selected in this process, which will help to decarbonise vital carbon-intensive sectors in one of the UK’s key industrial hubs. Nevertheless, we had hoped that our projects in the Humber would play a central role in this ambition and we are confident that they support the wider decarbonisation agenda in the UK.

“We expect that the CO2 transportation pipeline connecting the Humber to the Endurance CO2 store is progressed to support the Humber projects which may submit bids into subsequent phases and to help decarbonise the UK’s most energy intensive industrial region.”

Equinor has been a reliable broad energy partner to the UK for almost 40 years, supplying natural gas from Norway, developing domestic energy resources and generating low-carbon electricity.

Cluster Sequencing Process
The UK Government’s Ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution set out an ambition to deploy CCUS at scale in two of the UK’s industrial clusters by the mid-2020s, and a further two by 2030 in order to help the UK meet the net zero and Carbon Budget 6 targets.

Phase-1 of the Cluster Sequencing Process identified and sequenced CCUS clusters which are suited to deployment in the mid-2020s (known as Track-1). Last year, the East Coast Cluster and HyNet were announced as Track-1 clusters, and the Scottish Cluster as a reserve cluster if a back-up is needed.

Phase-2 was open to power, industrial carbon capture and hydrogen production projects which had an interest in accessing Track-1 clusters and met the technology specific eligibility criteria. Phase-2 concluded following project shortlisting and the announcement of projects that will enter negotiations for possible support.

About NZT Power
Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power), developed with bp, is a proposed gas-fired power station with carbon capture. NZT Power’s proposed power station will have an electrical output of up to 860 megawatts of low carbon electricity. Learn more about NZT here.

About Northern Endurance Partnership & East Coast Cluster
The East Coast Cluster unites the Humber and Teesside with infrastructure to decarbonise industry and establish a platform for economic growth. The East Coast Cluster is enabled by the offshore transport and storage infrastructure project, the Northern Endurance Partnership. The East Coast Cluster represents the UK’s biggest opportunity to:

  • Decarbonise industry: potential to tackle almost 50% of the UK’s total industrial cluster CO2 emissions.
  • Support levelling-up: creating and supporting an average of 25,000 jobs per year to 2050, with approximately 41,000 jobs at the project’s peak in 2026, underpinning new low carbon industries in the north of England.
  • Kick-start a hydrogen economy: delivering low-carbon hydrogen projects in both the Humber & Teesside, delivering up to 70% of the UK’s 10GW blue hydrogen target for 2030.
  • Demonstrate global leadership: establishing the Humber and Teesside as globally competitive low carbon hubs for industry and innovation, creating international momentum towards net zero.

About Equinor
Equinor is an international energy company committed to long-term value creation in a low-carbon future. Our purpose is to turn natural resources into energy for people and progress for society. Equinor’s portfolio of projects encompasses oil and gas, renewables and low-carbon solutions, with an ambition of becoming a net-zero energy company by 2050. Headquartered in Stavanger (Norway), Equinor is the leading operator on the Norwegian continental shelf. We are present in around 30 countries worldwide.