Shell, National Grid join carbon capture group

Shell UK Limited and National Grid are joining ScottishPower’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) consortium, with ScottishPower planning to deliver Britain’s first commercial-size CCS system operating from a coal-fired power station by 2014.

The consortium is now in the process of submitting a bid for the UK Government’s CCS competition.

“I am delighted to welcome Shell and National Grid to the team,” said Nick Horler, ScottishPower’s CEO. “Both of these companies will bring specialist knowledge, expertise and opportunities for growth in the development of this cutting-edge technology. For the consortium the two new companies represent a ‘perfect fit’ as it strives to reduce CO2 emissions by 90 per cent from its power plant at Longannet in Scotland.”

Shell is already taking part in a variety of projects to capture and geologically store CCS. Meanwhile, National Grid is the owner and operator of the UK’s gas pipeline system and has expertise in high-pressure pipelines. The companies are joining the Norwegian CO2 removal specialists Aker Clean Carbon in the ScottishPower consortium.

“For ScottishPower, the fact that a company of the size and scope of Shell has chosen to join our Carbon Capture consortium is a considerable coup and a significant boost to our bid,” Horler said. “The addition of Shell and National Grid to an already first-class team represents an even greater chance of developing a technology that will be vital in tackling climate change.”

He continued, “Shell’s experience of working offshore in the North Sea is clearly critical — not only in terms of the potential for CO2 storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, but because transport and storage of CO2 will demand many of the same engineering and subsurface skills on which the oil and gas industry has depended for many decades.”

Horler also said, “I believe the inclusion of National Grid as a non-exclusive partner into the consortium is an indication of how far our plans have advanced, as we have now reached a stage where it’s right to involve the UK’s leading pipeline operator.”

“Shell believes CCS is a technology that will be vital to tackling climate change and we believe that at this stage it is essential that we ‘learn by doing’ in order to reduce costs, accelerate technology and ultimately make CCS commercially viable,” said John Gallagher, vice president of Shell. “The core business of the oil and gas industry is the handling of gas and liquids above and below the surface — that makes companies like Shell very well placed to help deliver CCS.  The opportunities that exist in Scotland and the North Sea should be maximised wherever possible.”

Gallagher added, “We welcome the UK Government’s commitment to delivering up to four CCS projects in the UK.  The competition and the additional funding mechanism for demonstration projects can provide the framework for the UK to be a real leader in the development of CCS.  However, we do not underestimate the challenges that lie between a successful project and us. We will have to surmount significant technical and economic hurdles by working together across industry, Government and society to find solutions that work.”

“Bringing together different areas of expertise in this way is key to unlocking the enormous benefits from CCS: reducing emissions while helping to maintain security of supply,” said Chris Train, National Grid’s director for network operations. “The Longannet project also presents a potential opportunity to reuse some of our existing natural gas transmission pipelines in Scotland for CO2 transportation as North Sea gas supplies decline, helping the scheme to a running start.”