WIREDGOV

The Government has announced that the carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration programme - the three projects that will follow the first demonstration -  will be open to projects on gas-fired power plants as well as coal-fired power plants.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:

“Today the Government is reasserting its mission to lead the world on CCS, by opening our funding process to what could be one of the first ever commercial-scale CCS projects on a gas-fired plant in the world.

The UK looks set to rely on gas for years to come. We won't be able to take the carbon out of all gas plants overnight, but we hope to support the process by investment in new technology now. In the long run carbon capture will help provide us with a secure and affordable energy system and we want to encourage companies with projects on both gas and coal-fired power stations to come forward.

“We are determined to ensure the UK continues to be at the forefront of CCS development – and this sets us on course to lead the world in the development of CCS on gas as well as coal.”

“I want to be clear that this does not mean that we are imposing the same emission constraints on gas-fired power plants as on coal in the short or medium term, and want to encourage companies to come forward with potential projects.”

The Government is committed to funding four commercial-scale CCS projects and recently announced that up to £1 billion is to be made available for the first commercial scale CCS demonstration project.

The Government took the decision to include projects on gas-fired power stations in the demonstration programme after analysing the net benefits of this approach; including an assessment of the evidence and recommendations from the  Climate Change Committee’s second progress report (released in June) and information collected through the market sounding exercise conducted by the Office of Carbon Capture and Storage over the summer.

Notes to editors

For more information on CCS in the UK:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/ccs/ccs.aspx

The Chair of the Climate Change Committee Lord Adair wrote to the Secretary of State in June calling on the inclusion of gas in the Government’s CCS demonstration programme.
Read the CCC press noticeExternal link