Exclusive:SNP ministers accused of secrecy over £2m Grangemouth carbon capture study as Rachel Reeves to rule on funds

Fresh concerns have been raised about carbon capture technology.

SNP ministers have been accused of secrecy after refusing to publish a £2 million study into whether a pipeline that will connect Grangemouth with a key carbon capture project will fall flat.

The “alarming” move comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to confirm at her spending review this week whether the Acorn carbon capture project for St Fergus, near Peterhead, will finally receive the funding it needs to get off the ground.

Carbon capture technology is seen as being essential to Scotland and the UK reaching net zero | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The previous Conservative UK government only granted the Acorn project reserve status and ploughed funding into carbon capture and storage projects south of the Border instead.

This comes as finance secretary Shona Robison asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves to award funding for the Acorn carbon capture project and to ensure Scotland receives a share of GB Energy funding that matches its contribution to UK clean energy goals, ahead of the UK spending review.

She also called on the Chancellor to “prioritise growth” and to fully fund the employer national insurance increase for Scotland’s public services.

Ms Robison urged the UK Government to abandon some of its “damaging policies” such as cuts to welfare support for disabled people, to scrap the two-child benefit cap and to reinstate a universal winter fuel payment, ahead of the review on 11 June.

She said the Scottish Government had not yet been provided with “clarity” on spending priorities.

The delays to the project has been partly blamed for SNP ministers rolling back climate targets, with the Acorn plans initially hoped to be up and running before 2030.

READ MORE: Acorn: Scotland's carbon capture project in doubt as Labour minister to 'bid' Rachel Reeves for funds

But now, the Scottish Government has refused to release the results of a feasibility study into the pipeline, despite confirming the document was completed in March.

SNP ministers handed over £2m to National Gas last year to assess whether it was possible to turn an old 174-mile gas pipeline that runs from Grangemouth in the Central Belt to St Fergus, Aberdeenshire into “Europe’s largest carbon capture pipeline”.

Officials have refused to release details of what the study shows, despite campaigners requesting it under Freedom of Information law.

Acting SNP Energy Secretary Gillian Martin | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Concerns have been raised about carbon capture technology, which campaigners warn simply allows oil and gas companies to continue burning fossil fuels.

Under the technology, harmful carbon emissions are prevented from being released into the atmosphere and instead trapped and injected into the seabed. Fears have been raised about leakage, with the technology not yet tested at commercial scale.

During a trip to St Fergus in 2023, then prime minister Rishi Sunak also raised concerns about the technology, warning that it would be a boost “if we can get it to work”.

Now, campaigners have warned that any further public funds for the Acorn project would benefit major oil companies, including Shell, which have made £90 billion profits in recent years and Harbour Energy who recently laid off 250 staff despite paying out almost £1bn to shareholders in the past three years.

READ MORE: Labour minister warns North Sea to 'plan for future' without oil and gas amid Government carbon capture rift

The UK government has already pledged £22bn to the carbon capture industry, a move which the Public Accounts Committee branded a “high risk gamble” that could push up household energy bills.

First Minister John Swinney has vowed to increase the public handout from the Scottish Government for the Acorn project beyond £80m. But that is contingent on the UK government first backing the project - amid doubts the funding could be axed in the spending review amid a perilous economic backdrop.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s climate campaigner Alex Lee said: “The public are again being forced to pay for the oil industry’s greenwashing carbon capture plans, and it is deeply alarming that we don’t even get to see what our money has unearthed.

READ MORE: North Sea oil and gas workers braced for 'unjust transition' as SNP ministers have 'no plan'

“Plans to run a 280km high pressure carbon pipeline through towns and villages are fraught with danger and uncertainty because this has never been done before in Scotland. Have the people who live along the route of this pipeline proposal been informed of the risks and consulted on these proposals?

“It is a farce that ministers have been talking up carbon capture for 20 years and only now are they checking whether it would even be feasible to do this.

“When working climate solutions are crying out for funding, there should be no public investment in dodgy scams like carbon capture.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband are reportedly at odds over carbon capture funding. PIC: Justin Tallis/PA Wire

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The Greens have always been sceptical about putting too much reliance on untested carbon capture technology, and we are firmly opposed to using it as an excuse for more fossil fuel extraction or burning.

“Even its advocates don’t think it will make any impact on our emissions in the near future, so the priority has to be the action we know how to take right now - cutting road and air traffic levels, insulating homes and shifting to clean heating, and supporting communities to change land use.

“Climate action isn’t rocket science and we don’t need to wait for new technologies to get off the drawing board - we just need to do what we know works.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government provided National Gas with a £2m grant to support a study to explore the technical feasibility and viability of repurposing an existing gas pipeline for the transportation of carbon dioxide.

“The conclusions of the study were requested under environmental information regulations. However, for reasons of commercial confidentiality these can’t be released.

“The Scottish Government fully supports the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS), and we have been advised by the Climate Change Committee that they ‘cannot see a route to net zero that does not include CCS’.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “We are delivering first of a kind carbon capture projects in the UK, supporting thousands of jobs across the country, reigniting industrial heartlands and tackling the climate crisis.

“The energy secretary has made clear that we recognise the value of the Acorn project to Scotland and our wider clean power plan. Carbon capture requires significant resources, and it is right that it is considered within the Spending Review.”