Exclusive:Acorn carbon capture: Crunch talks as Scotland wind farm chiefs poised to wrestle over seabed

Talks are taking place between the Acorn carbon capture project and a key floating wind farm over who will get their full share of the North Sea.

SNP ministers have been told to “get a grip” of the energy transition after it emerged crunch talks are being held between wind farm bosses and those developing Scotland’s Acorn carbon capture project because the two proposals want to use the same area of seabed.

The Scotsman can reveal that bosses behind Scotland’s proposed carbon capture project in St Fergus are holding discussions with wind farm chiefs as two key energy developments are poised to overlap in the North Sea. The area is located around 47 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, with both projects having been granted permission to use the same strip of seabed.

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Concerns have been raised the proposed Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which has been pushed forward after the UK government handed it £200 million of funding in Rachel Reeves’s Spending Review earlier this month, will partially overlap in the North Sea with the MarramWind floating wind development.

Two licences for same plot of the seabed

Crown Estate Scotland issued licences to Pate Blue Dot for the Acorn storage site, as well to Shell and Scottish Power for the MarramWind project that will produce around 3GW of renewable energy. The Acorn storage site, called its “foundation store”, will make use of the seabed, where the harmful carbon will be injected deep into the rocks.

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The MarramWind project proposes up to 225 floating turbines that will also be moored to the seabed.

But those behind the Acorn CCS project have insisted any overlap will not derail the long-delayed proposals that will be based onshore at the St Fergus gas terminal near Peterhead - despite a significant part of one of the project’s two storage sites falling in the same plot of the seabed leased to the MarramWind project.

The MarramWind proposals and the Acorn CCS storage site overlap on the seabed | Crown Estate Scotland

The Acorn CCS project is expected to have capacity to store up to 10Mt of CO₂ per year. If all goes to plan, both the Acorn and the MarramWind projects are expected to be up and running in the early 2030s.

SNP ministers under fire

A scoping report produced as part of the MarramWind proposals, published in January 2023, highlighted “seabed obstructions”, including “carbon capture storage projects”.

Scottish Labour North East MSP Mercedes Villalba said: “The lack of oversight from the Government here is staggering.

Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba

"It is frankly absurd that under the SNP's watch, two incompatible projects can be granted seabed rights on the very same plot. This is yet another case of the SNP selling off Scotland without a care for the consequences.”

She added: "Our energy transition will continue to be disorderly, with workers paying the price, until the Government gets a grip on offshore development.

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"That starts with technical due diligence of projects such as these and transparent accounting of what exactly public funding grants are being spent on."

Scottish Conservative shadow energy secretary Douglas Lumsden said the revelation was “just the latest example of SNP incompetence”.

Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden | supplied

The North East MSP added: “How they have managed to sell the same bit of seabed to two different parties is anyone’s guess – but they need to resolve this mess fast, while also ensuring the taxpayers’ best interests are served.

Acorn deem overlap ‘manageable’

A spokesperson for the Acorn project said: “We are aware of recent questions regarding a potential overlap between the Acorn CO₂ storage site and the proposed MarramWind offshore wind farm.

“This is a known and manageable spatial interaction. Any area of overlap is limited and does not affect Acorn’s ability to develop, operate, or monitor the CO₂ store.

The Acorn carbon capture project will be built next to the St Fergus gas terminal (Photo: Paul Campbell/PA Wire) | Paul Campbell/PA Wire

“Interactions of this kind are not uncommon, and the wind and carbon storage sectors are actively collaborating across the UK to manage them. The Crown Estate’s co-locate forum is one example of how such overlaps are being addressed constructively. While this case is in Scottish waters, the same principles of early engagement and joint resolution apply.

“We are also working closely with Crown Estate Scotland, with whom we hold the necessary agreements, to ensure all required arrangements are in place to support Acorn’s continued development.

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“We remain fully committed to progressing Acorn at pace towards a final investment decision, working in partnership with the UK and Scottish governments and other key stakeholders. We are equally supportive of the successful delivery of all projects that contribute to Scotland’s just transition and net zero ambitions.”

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A spokesperson for MarramWind said: “We are engaging directly with Acorn on relevant co-location considerations for a small part of the proposed MarramWind site.”

A spokesperson for Crown Estate Scotland told The Scotsman it “has a responsibility to consider the requirements of a range of sectors”.

The spokesperson said: “ScotWind option agreements were awarded in accordance with the spatial parameters provided by the Scottish Government’s sectoral marine plan for offshore wind energy.

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“We have worked closely with the Acorn project and relevant ScotWind projects to facilitate co-existence by including suitable provisions in the ScotWind agreements. These provisions relate not only to the area of seabed immediately related to the Acorn Project area, but also to the wider areas required to monitor operation of the planned Acorn Project storage areas.”

Research into ‘co-location’

“Crown Estate Scotland’s determination to ensure co-location issues are resolved is reflected in our sponsorship of the offshore wind and carbon capture and storage (CCS) co-location forum. The forum’s work includes research by scientists at the University of Aberdeen, who are investigating the best approach to testing and demonstrating the co-location of offshore wind and CCS activities in the future.”

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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Crown Estate Scotland are working on the spatial planning of sites and it is the Scottish Government’s understanding that any potential overlap of the Acorn carbon capture store and the Marram offshore wind development is limited and will not impact on Acorn’s ability to develop, operate or monitor the CO₂ store.

“The offshore wind and carbon capture and storage colocation forum, sponsored by Crown Estate Scotland, are developing technical solutions to any co-existence challenges including seismic monitoring.”