Swinney demands talks over 'clueless' UK government prioritising English carbon capture sites over Scotland

John Swinney has demanded talks with Sir Keir Starmer on funding for carbon capture in Scotland after the Prime Minister announced £22 billion for two projects in England.

The SNP criticised the UK government’s “clumsy and clueless approach” as it failed to offer any certainty for a proposed facility at St Fergus, near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

The First Minister wrote to Sir Keir calling for a discussion on developing Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) projects in Scotland after the £22bn funding announcement for projects in Merseysideand Teesside.

CCUS is a technology that captures the emissions from burning fuels for energy or from industrial processes such as cement production, and uses or transports them for storage permanently underground – for example, in disused oil fields under the sea.

The Acorn project in St Fergus was given reserve status after being passed over in 2021 by the previous UK government in favour of the first two clusters in England.

Mr Swinney wrote: “The Acorn project and wider Scottish Cluster are essential for the Scottish and UK Governments to further grow the economy, secure jobs as part of a just transition and importantly, for respective governments to meet our legally defined climate targets. There is an opportunity now to be even more ambitious on CCUS, and the Scottish Government stands ready to support this journey.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer | Benjamin Cremel - Pool/Getty Images

He added: “I feel I was fundamentally misled on this issue by the previous Government. I am therefore very anxious to ensure swift and effective progress is made on this as soon as possible.

“I would like to discuss the above with you when we meet next week.”

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “This really isn’t that hard – if you want economic growth, if you want to create jobs, if you want to develop a domestic supply chain, and if you want to hit net zero, then you invest in the Acorn project.

“For years we’ve been waiting for the Tories to back this project and despite offering ‘change’, the Labour government have followed the same path by prioritising projects in the north of England, offering the Scottish cluster no certainty at all.

“We’ve seen with Grangemouth what happens when you don’t invest in the energy transition and, at this point, Labour look desperate to repeat those mistakes with their absurd tax changes and failure to invest in CCUS here in the north east.

“We know that Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have lofty ambitions for net zero, but their clumsy and clueless approach to the north east indicates that they have no idea how to actually deliver on their aims.”

The Scottish Greens described CCUS as “a costly and unproven technology”, adding it was no substitute for increased investment in renewables.

Co-leader Lorna Slater said: “The billions of pounds that Keir Starmer is pouring into CCUS would be much better spent on cutting people’s electricity bills, investing in green skills and proven industries, and boosting energy efficiency and public transport.”

Former first minister Alex Salmond, who now leads the pro-independence Alba Party, accused Labour of betraying the north east of Scotland. He added: “We should now be extremely concerned at the lack of any earmarked funding for the Acorn project.”

It is hoped the funding for the two carbon capture clusters in Merseyside and Teesside will create and support thousands of jobs, draw in private investment and help the UK meet climate goals. The previous UK Tory government had announced an extra £20bn for carbon capture, but Labour said this had never been committed.

Sir Keir said carbon capture was a “race that we can win” thanks to the UK’s geology, heritage and experience in green finance.

The Prime Minister said: “This is a technology that’s now arrived, that is ready with this investment to scale. But it is just the start. I’ve always believed that clean energy is a golden opportunity for our country, a chance to bring security and hope to working people, relight the fires of renewal in those areas that got hit so hard by deindustrialisation.”

Sir Keir said there was a “global race to get ahead”, adding: “I’m really pleased that we’re putting ourselves in a position not just to be in that global race, but to win that global race and that’ll be measured in thousands of jobs for literally decades to come.”

He said renewable energy offered “lower energy bills for good” and was cheaper than fossil fuels and prevents reliance on the international market.

“There is always the challenge of the short term versus the long term, but if you never do the long-term decisions you will always have the short-term problems, and that’s where we’ve been stuck for 14 years,” he said.

“This is about making sure we’re taking the long-term decisions to keep those energy bills down for good for millions of people across the country.”

Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, described CCUS as a “tool in our armoury of technologies which we need to decarbonise parts of energy that we currently can’t do with clean electricity, such as major industrial processes”.

James Richardson, acting chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, said: “It’s fantastic to see funding coming through for these big projects. We can’t hit the country’s targets without CCUS so this commitment to it is very reassuring.”

Michael Tholen, sustainability and policy director at Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), said it was “an important day for the UK’s nascent carbon capture sector that cements a commitment to decarbonisation and net zero and secures long-term activity for the industry and its supply chain”.

He said: “To fully harness the potential of CCUS and achieve the UK’s 2030 deployment targets, progress must speed up. Leaders of many projects remain uncertain about their eligibility for government support or when they can expect it. A clear plan for deployment beyond the initial clusters is critical to establish a steady flow of work for the supply chain.”

But Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr said £22bn “is a lot of money to spend on something that is going to extend the life of planet-heating oil and gas production”.

While he acknowledged it was vital the government committed to industrial investment and job creation while tackling the climate crisis, “it needs to be the right sort of industries”.

Tory shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said: “Exceptional local leaders like Ben Houchen have worked on this for years and it’s thanks to the Conservatives that funding was already announced for these projects in the spring of 2023.

“But whilst this is undoubtedly good news for carbon capture jobs, this will not make up for the mass deindustrialisation pathway that Ed Miliband’s costly net-zero and energy policies are leading us to, with the devastating impact of his zealotry on jobs already seen in steelmaking, refineries and in the North Sea.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “Scotland is at the forefront of the drive towards net zero and clean energy, with Great British Energy’s headquarters to be located inAberdeen.

“Our historic funding is just the first step in developing a self-sustaining market for carbon capture, usage and storage.

“Acorn has already received over £40 million for development and it is our firm ambition to proceed with the projects in the Track-2 clusters.”