Costs take blame as government kills off carbon capture plan
A PIONEERING £1 billion climate change project in Scotland’s biggest power station has been scrapped amid escalating costs, it has been confirmed.
The carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme at Longannet coal-fired power station, in Fife, was to be the first of its kind in the UK, with the ability to trap harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the plant.
The decision came under fire from environmental groups and First Minister Alex Salmond, who said it was an “enormous lost opportunity”.
Dr Richard Dixon, director of environmental charity WWF Scotland, added: “This news is massively disappointing and threatens Scotland’s – and the rest of the UK’s – ambition to be at the forefront of developing this new technology.
“If technical and economic hurdles can be overcome, CCS has the potential to help reduce emissions at thousands of coal power stations around the world.
“However, almost four years after launching its funding competition, plans for CCS in the UK have descended into farce.
“Four years have effectively been wasted in the battle to tackle climate change.”
UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne told MPs yesterday there were “specific problems” with the Longannet scheme over the length of the pipeline required.
A new pipeline would be needed to pump the carbon dioxide emissions from the plant to empty oil and gas reservoirs below the North Sea bed, where they would be stored.
The UK government was making £1 billion available, but it is understood the estimated cost had reached £1.5bn.
Mr Huhne insisted the government was still committed to carbon capture and storage and said the £1bn funding would be available for other projects.
Ministers were expecting “a number of promising bids from both Scotland and England”, he said.
This could see the gas-fired Peterhead power station, far nearer the pivotal North Sea reservoirs, move into prime position.
A CCS scheme earmarked for the north-east facility was ditched four years ago by Scottish and Southern Energy over a lack of Treasury support.
Mr Salmond said the Longannet announcement has “serious implications” for the long-term future of coal production in Scotland, as the renewal and upgrading of the site was to be part and parcel of the CCS investment.
He added: “This is a deeply disappointing announcement by the UK government, and an enormous lost opportunity.”
The CCS Consortium at Longannet, which comprises the site’s operator ScottishPower, the National Grid and Shell, is thought to have seen up to £50 million spent on designs for the groundbreaking technology so far.
ScottishPower’s generation director Hugh Finlay said: “The consortium is immensely proud of the work we have completed in the last four years.
“Our combined efforts have seen this potentially world-changing technology develop from being a concept in a laboratory to a definitive blueprint that could be implemented.
“As a result of the study, we now understand how the CCS process works from power station to storage site.”
Juliet Swann, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the news was a “massive step backwards” and cast doubts over plans to use the technology at a proposed plant in Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
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Comments
There are 51 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
Tibially Challenged Douglas Bader
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 06:56 PM49 - " A Union dividend which would surely be lost after independence." Do you think Alex Salmond would pay 1billion for one of the current green scams in place? The amount of Carbon Dioxide India, China and Russia pump out alone shows the folly of these green projects. Complete waste of money. Nuclear is the only realistic and relatively cheap option.
Never A Fake
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 06:43 PMComment removed by moderator
Union is Best
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 06:22 PM"A PIONEERING £1 billion climate change project in Scotland’s biggest power station" I think this just shows very well the pioneering investments and prioirty of spending the UK government has for Scotland, pumping such pioneering investments into Scotland! A Union dividend which would surely be lost after independence.
Finnzz
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 05:32 PMComment removed by moderator
Geomac
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 02:38 PMSanity prevails at long last. This project has always been a disaster in waiting. Who in their right mind would spend £1 billion (or morelikely £1.5 billion) to remove 25 % (yes, that’s all it would be doing) of the emissions from one coal fired power station – and also as a consequence reduce the output of the generator by 25% – requiring further generation capability to make up for this loss. As far as I’m aware there has never been a cost benefit analysis carried out on this project – largely, I suspect, because it would show just how insane it was.
grahamski
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 01:54 PMComment removed by moderator
Self Determination
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 01:36 PMgrahamski still hiding here and too ashamed ,or too embarrassed to defend the Union on the life expectancy thread? Easierr to hide from Westminster mismangement on here eh Grahamski? You would rather make snidey comments about the people who have Scotland's interests at heart. You of course have london's interests and that of your corrupt party at your cenbtral core. You are a low life piece of unionist filth.
A Chemist Writes
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 01:30 PM#42 ljstewart. It's not just "a bit of pipe". Subsea transportation of supercritical CO2, a potentially highly corrosive product and a known asphyxiant, has never been done before. Before that type of system is considered, a thorough understanding of the risks and mitigations is required. We are a long long way off from that.
Incandescent
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 01:12 PM#42 Call me cynical, but I doubt the Chinese will be taking much of an interest in carbon capture anytime soon.
ljstewart
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 01:09 PMJust who are these morons ?? We come up with yet another world beating idea and it gets binned because they cannot pay for a bit of pipe. This is what happens when you have techincally illiterate numbskulls in charge of running Britain. Not a single BSc in either the cabinet or shadow cabinet. The initiator of the Industrial Revolution has gone to the dogs. In ten years time, we will have to buy the technology back from the Chinese or the Koreans. A really really hacked off professional engineer.
Incandescent
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:47 PMSlioch will be distraught.
jack hobbs
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:13 PMUnfortunately Scotland has recently shown that when it comes to spending the 'big bucks' it has an unrivalled ineptitude. The 'saga of Holyrood', the overspend on the trams, the most expensive road (M8 extension) in UK history, what more proof do you need. Thank heavens the GARL project got cancelled (thanks to the SNP) and hopefully the Borders rail link will go the same way. These peojects should be seen as a job creation scheme that would have proved in the main to be irrelevant in the day to day life of Scotland.
A Chemist Writes
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:12 PMNo need to be so sour Il Pensero. You asked a question of me and I amswered. But isn't that a recurring theme with the Nats: express an opinion that challenges their beliefs and it instantly gets personal.
Il Penseroso
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:06 PMI thought that my comment about "bare knuckles" had my post withdrawn. To the chemist; congrats. on your MIMechE. With that competence I thought you would have sent your own thesis to Prof Haszeldine rather than a mere comment in a post on the Scotsman. Mind you intelligence doesn't always endow one with wisdom.
Il Penseroso
Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 11:57 AM#26 and #27 !A Chemist Writes" So you are in the best position to question the opinions of Prof Stuart Haszeldine and Dr Richard Dixon? What edge do have on them? Just wondering! Grahamski I'm off to enjoy a few enlightening days in Inverness. Unlike others, we will have a full house of supporters for Scotland and NOT a Union.
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