Member Article

Teesside Collective launches industrial carbon capture and storage vision

Major energy intensive industrial plants located in Teesside in Tees Valley will today (Wednesday 21 January 2015) set out their vision of transforming the area into Europe’s first Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) equipped industrial zone.

At a launch event in the House of Commons, the cluster of leading North East employers will introduce their project name, Teesside Collective, and outline the initial positive findings of engineering work undertaken by Amec Foster Wheeler.

Teesside Collective has initial funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and is ahead of rival industrial areas elsewhere in the UK and on the Continent.

It is seen by the CBI as “a shot in the arm to British industry’s long term future” and by Sir David King as “in the right place, at the right time, to get ahead of the curve”.

CCS is a group of proven technologies that can capture, transport and permanently store up to 90% of the CO₂ emissions pro­duced by burning fossil fuels, preventing them from entering the atmosphere.

To date, the focus in the UK has been on commercialising CCS for electricity generation.

Teesside Collective is an important departure. Its premise is that a range of industries would be able to capture their emissions, plug them into a shared pipeline network, and send them for permanent storage under the North Sea.

Four energy intensive Teesside firms are involved as ‘anchor projects’ – BOC, Lotte Chemical UK, SSI UK and GrowHow – all of whom face stiff competition internationally and the prospect of escalating carbon permit prices in the future. National Grid, Tees Valley Unlimited (the Local Enterprise Partnership) and NEPIC (North East Process Industry Cluster) are also on the project’s steering group.

CCS in Teesside would have far reaching benefits in terms of maintaining and growing the industrial base and workforce in the Tees Valley and the wider UK. It would also contribute to the significant cuts in emissions required to reduce UK carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

Managing Director of Tees Valley Unlimited, Stephen Catchpole, said: “The effect of a successful CCS network in Teesside would be a game changer for Tees Valley, the region and the UK economy.”

CEO, North East Process Industry Cluster, Dr Stan Higgins, said: “Industrial CCS is a win win. In our efforts to create a low carbon world we will also sustain the UK’s process industry; creating jobs, wealth and a location businesses will want to invest in.”

UK’s Special Representative for Climate Change, Sir David King, said: “CCS on industrial plant is going to be a critical part of the global effort to prevent serious climate change.

“Teesside is in the right place, at the right time, to get ahead of the curve, insulating itself from future carbon costs and putting the UK on the map as the go to place for clean industrial investment.”