Completed Clean Energy Climate, Earth & Environment

Net Zero Teesside Onshore

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A consortium led by bp will build the world’s first flexible gas power plant that captures its own carbon dioxide emissions, aiming to bury roughly 2 million tonnes of CO₂ per year under the North Sea from 2026. This matters because the UK’s climate targets require decarbonising heavy industry, but renewable power alone cannot provide the flexible, on-demand electricity that factories and chemical plants need. Gas plants with carbon capture offer a way to keep industrial clusters running without the emissions. The project anchors a wider effort to cut Teesside’s industrial emissions by one third, partnering with fertiliser and gas companies on site. If successful, the plant could reduce the overall cost of the UK power system by an estimated £19 billion by 2050, compared to relying solely on energy storage. It is expected to support up to 5,500 construction jobs and safeguard between 35% and 70% of existing manufacturing jobs in the Tees Valley, with an annual economic benefit of up to £450 million for the region. The project also aims to kickstart a private market for carbon capture and storage, which currently does not exist at scale.

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The Net Zero Teesside project, together with its associated Transportation and Storage project, the Northern Endurance Partnership, create a pathway to facilitate decarbonisation of the Teesside industrial cluster in the mid 2020s. Net Zero Teesside and the Northern Endurance Partnership are led by bp and leverage world class expertise from across industry including CF Fertilisers, BOC Gases, ENI, Equinor, National Grid, Sembcorp, Shell and Total, with confirmed support from many more stakeholders and subcontractors. The project anchor is a world first flexible gas power plant with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) which will "compliment rather than compete with" renewables. It will capture ~2 million tonnes of CO2 annually from 2026, decarbonising 750MW of flexible power and enabling a reduction of Teesside's emissions by one third through partnership with industrial stakeholders including CF, BOC and Sembcorp. CO2 will be permanently and safely stored in a well understood large geological aquifer located in the Southern North Sea. NZT addresses widely accepted strategic national priorities - most notably to secure green recovery and drive new jobs and economic growth in regions most hit by the pandemic. NZT will also deliver on the Chancellor's pledge in the 2020 Budget to "support the construction of the UK's first CCUS power plant." The Committee on Climate Change identified both gas power with CCUS and hydrogen production using natural gas with CCUS as critical to the UK's decarbonisation strategy, and gas power with CCUS has been independently estimated to reduce the overall UK power system cost to consumers by £19bn by 2050 (compared to alternative options such as energy storage). The £61mn industry contribution coupled with £28mn grant funding should enable Teesside to subsequently build this billion-pound decarbonisation project. Private financing for CCUS projects and flexible gas power with CCUS will all be world firsts, transformative to the industry and playing a pivotal role in the UK's trajectory toward Net Zero. In conjunction with the Northern Endurance Partnership, the development is estimated to support and safeguard between 35% and 70% of existing manufacturing jobs in Tees Valley, with an annual gross benefit of up to £450mn for the Teesside region and the support of up to 5,500 direct jobs during construction. NZT would showcase a broad range of decarbonisation technologies and underpin the UK's Clean Growth strategy, securing green recovery, driving economic growth in regions hit by the pandemic and kickstarting a new market for CCUS.

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Northern Endurance Partnership - Integrated Offshore Carbon Storage
Scotland's Net Zero Infrastructure (Offshore)
Scotland's Net Zero Infrastructure (Onshore)
APACE Net Zero
Project TENET: Research on an innovative direct air capture technology that delivers a cheaper and more energy-efficient approach to removing and storing CO2.

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Collaborative R&D

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