MPs sign letter asking Chancellor to meet key stakeholders over Acorn Project at St Fergus

A cross-party group of MPs have signed a letter asking recently appointed Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, to meet with key stakeholders to underline the need for the Acorn Project to be online by 2027.

The letter, organised by Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid, has been sent to the Chancellor following a roundtable event held in Westminster last week.

Linking carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen production in the north-east, Acorn is a key component of the Scottish Cluster, a major infrastructure bid backed by the likes of Shell, ETZ Ltd, Wood, Storegga, SSE and Ineos. It’s hoped the project could peak at around 21,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Mr Duguid, who chaired last week’s meeting, said: “Although not part of the original Track 1 selection criteria, Acorn is unique among all the clusters in being able to offer Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO2 from the atmosphere as well as a facility to import by ship emissions from elsewhere in the UK and Europe.

Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid.

"As the Track 1 Reserve Cluster, The Acorn Carbon Capture Storage and Hydrogen Project at St Fergus is still very much moving forward, and everything must be done to ensure this continues. The project is hugely important to the north-east and I will continue to work with developers and UK Government ministers to make sure we reap the benefits.”

Greg Hands MP, UK Energy Minister, who attended the meeting, said at the time: “We are determined to further develop this promising sector.”