Member Article

Tees Valley carbon capture vision outlined to Westminster

Over 40 North East industrialists have briefed 20 MPs in Westminster on the opportunity for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the Tees Valley.

The briefing involved presentations on technical concepts by Mike Huggon, MD of BOC; the business impact by Keith Brudenell, site director of Growhow; and the investment outcomes by Neil Kenley, business investment director of Tees Valley Unlimited.

An introduction by MP for Redcar Ian Swales looked at the capability of Teesside not only to build the proposed multi-billion pound infrastructure project, but also to enhance the long-term viability of numerous large-scale industrial businesses operating there, including SABIC, SSI, Huntsman and BOC.

Stan Higgins, CEO of NEPIC, the North East Process Industries Cluster, was asked about the wider impacts of CCS: “This is a multi-billion pound infrastructure project and as such will provide a huge amount of engineering work in the region over several years.

“In addition, the underpinning of existing large scale industry is vital for the long term competitiveness of the UK economy. It is essential to the sustaining and growing of our capabilities as an advanced manufacturing economy.”

Keith Brudenell said: “This is not concept technology - we are already capturing carbon dioxide today in the production of fertilizer, hydrogen and bioethanol. The proposed project will reduce the carbon dioxide we release when making fertilizers very significantly, enabling us to take over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the carbon footprint of UK farming industry.

“This demonstrates the impact of CCS could have on just one process industry manufacturing company and its downstream consumers. Implementing CCS on Teesside with capacity for process, as well as energy production, will have a huge impact on the UK’s overall carbon footprint.”

Mr Swales also stressed the importance of the potential reopening of the Teesside Power Station, which would be the anchor facility for the Teesside Low Carbon project.

Prof Jon Gluyas of Durham University and the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) was asked about the viability of the project: “The Teesside project is close to the deep offshore saline aquifers and oil/gas fields where the carbon dioxide can be stored. The geology provides the opportunity and is well understood from the 40 years of exploration that has already taken place.

“Furthermore we can enhance oil recovery from existing fields and as more data comes in. The Department for Environment and Climate Change (DECC)believes that an additional 6 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the North Sea. This is equivalent to 4 years worth of total UK energy consumption.”
Mike Huggon of BOC added: “At BOC we are already using this technology to separate and store gas. As a company we have over 100 miles of pipeline utilities around the Tees Valley.

“We also have the engineering capability to provide the long-term infrastructure that will help the growth of the sector and allow it to remain globally competitive for many years to come.

“The North East’s process industries must have a level playing field alongside their global competitors, some of whom have already adopted this technology.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .