Recipient organisationPale Blue Dot Energy Limited
Funding£11.3M
PeriodMar 2021 — Feb 2024
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
A single offshore pipeline network in the North Sea will begin storing carbon dioxide from a Scottish gas terminal in late 2025, capturing 740,000 tonnes per year. This project, Scotland’s Net Zero Infrastructure (SNZI), develops the offshore wells, subsea equipment, and pipelines needed to inject CO₂ into depleted rock formations beneath the seabed. The problem is straightforward: the UK cannot meet its net zero target without permanently storing tens of millions of tonnes of industrial CO₂ each year, and no such infrastructure currently exists at scale. If successful, the Acorn storage site will expand from 740,000 tonnes per year to 6 million tonnes by 2027, then to 20 million tonnes by 2035—equivalent to 5% of all current UK emissions. The project also opens access to over 20 gigatons of total storage capacity in well-characterised North Sea sites. This is not fundamental science; it is applied engineering that builds the physical backbone for carbon capture and storage. The immediate impact is on industrial clusters in Scotland and beyond, which will gain a concrete route to decarbonise their operations, while the UK gains a major CO₂ storage hub with significant economic benefits.
View original technical description
This project, known as Scotland's Net Zero Infrastructure (SNZI) project, will focus on developing the offshore Acorn Storage Site and associated offshore infrastructure. The project will fund important engineering studies to develop the key offshore components of the cluster, increasing investor confidence and providing the storage capacity to make a net zero industrial cluster in the UK a reality. It paves the way for over 6MT/yr of CO2 storage by 2030, growing to 20 MT/yr by 2035, and unlocking access to over 20 gigatons of CO2 storage capacity. This world-class storage capacity provides a route for much of the UK's emissions to be safely stored in well-characterised storage sites in the North Sea. This proposal seeks to develop the major offshore storage components of the Scottish industrial cluster, developing offshore pipeline, subsea and well-related infrastructure to transport and inject the CO2 offshore for long term secure storage. Other aspects of the proposal seek to: * Undertake the subsurface, wells and subsea work required to expand the initial Acorn storage site to increase CO2 injection capacity offshore, enabling the transportation and storage of up to 5 MT/yr CO2 from 2027 * Prepare for a significant extension to the Acorn store by evaluating the further storage sites, including assessing the subsea equipment and wells required to add a potential >600 million tonnes of storage capacity. The initial development of CCS and low carbon hydrogen production at the St Fergus gas terminal will store approx. 740,000 tonnes per annum of CO2 from late 2025. This programme will enable the total to rise to 6 MT/yr by 2027, to 10 MT/yr before 2030, and 20 MT/yr by 2035. This represents 5% of all current UK emissions. The SNZI onshore and offshore projects together provide a clear and tangible path to decarbonisation of the Scottish industrial cluster, as well as opening up opportunities to support other industrial clusters in the UK and abroad. The ability to support multiple clusters and locations with access to the world class offshore storage locations accessible from the Acorn infrastructure is of vital importance to the UK's net zero ambitions. In addition, there will be significant economic benefits to UK Plc as a result of this cluster progressing to be a major CO2 storage hub.
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