European Union Funds CCS Project in UK

The European Union intends to fund CCS demonstration plants in Europe to be built by 2020, paying particular attention to the UK’s White Rose development in North Yorkshire.

Confirming a report released in December 2013, European institutions said they would fund the 0.4478 GW net capacity project. Brussels is reportedly willing to grant €300 million to the carbon capture and storage project in the UK.

James Elston, upstreadm Oil and Gas professional, wrote on Twitter that it is a “massive waste of money.” According to the former CEO of shale player Realm Energy, the funds would have been better used to fund solar or storage research.

THE PROJECT

‘The proposal, named the White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage Project (White Rose CCS Project), is seeking funding from the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme being promoted by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as well as European funding from the NER 300 programme. The project will be dependent on a successful outcome of these funding processes, and also on the successful outcome of negotiations with the government to establish appropriate market mechanisms to incentivise low-carbon technologies and provide support to the project,’ reads the website of the project. 

The proposal comprises coal-fired power plant that is equipped with full carbon capture and storage technology. It will be built by a consortium comprising France’s group Alstom, UK-based Drax and BOC.

‘The project is intended to prove CCS technology at commercial scale and demonstrate it as a competitive form of low-carbon power generation and as an important technology in tackling climate change,’ adds the website of the project. 

According to the European Commission, CCS is one of the key available technologies for cutting CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-based power generation and CO2-intensive industries. 

The project in North Yorkshire was shortlisted by the British government in October 2012.