A ground-breaking deal with Shell which could generate enough clean energy to power half a million homes, and capture 1 million tonnes of CO2 each year has been announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey.
The multi-million pound project at Peterhead Power Station will see the gas-fired power plant retrofitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
Over the next two years, government will be investing around £100 million from its £1 billion CCS budget, with additional industry investment, to plan, design and engineer the UK’s first two CCS projects.
Along with the White Rose CCS Project in Yorkshire, the projects will create around 2,000 jobs, including those in construction, technical and operational jobs.
Peterhead will be the first gas plant in the world to capture carbon dioxide on an industrial scale and pipe it under the sea where it can be stored safely, said the Department of Energy & climate Change.
“The innovation of the UK’s energy industry is something we should be really proud of and the fact that we are a world leader in carbon capture and storage is a great example of our country’s ingenuity,” said Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
“It shows we can build a stronger economy and do it fairly by protecting our environment for future generations.”