National Grid pulls out of North Sea carbon capture project

The carbon emitted by the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire is to be captured and stored under the proposed scheme. Photo: Graham. Barclay/Bloomberg News

To reach zero, the government wants some 20-30 million tons of UK carbon dioxide emissions to be captured and stored underground by 2030.

National Grid, through its National Grid Ventures division was involved in plans to capture emissions from the UK's two largest industrial areas, the Humber and Teesside, and store them in the North Sea.

As planned, it will lay 120km of pipelines starting at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire and collecting emissions from factories and power stations in North Lincolnshire towards Easington on the coast.

From there these emissions and those coming from via a pipeline separate from Teesside, will be sent to a storage facility under the North Sea, where they will be stored so as not to increase emissions into the atmosphere.

This offshore section of the project has so far been developed by a coalition of companies known as the Northern Endurance Partnership ( NEP), which includes BP, Total, Shell and National Grid Ventures.

However, National Grid Ventures has already exited the NEP and is also in the process of selling its stake in the planned new Humber pipelines to the NEP.

BP is now expected to become the system operator from start to finish.

This month, BP bought a project led by Harbor Energy to create another storage facility in the North Sea as a sign of its commitment to an emerging industry.

National Grid recently sold a majority stake in its gas pipeline to a coalition led by Macquarie as it handles electricity grids.

How Carbon Capture and Storage Works

A spokesperson for National Grid Ventures said: “NGV has already exited the Northern Partnership for Endurance (NEP), offshore aspects of the East Coast Cluster.

“We are discussing transferring our interest in the onshore Humber systems to NEP. . There is a natural synergy with NEP's shared transportation and storage system that will serve the Teesside and Humber carbon capture projects.

“NGV's decision to transfer our interests to NEP is part of National Grid's broader strategic focus. on the company's existing portfolio in the UK, in which they are investing over £15bn by 2026 to integrate renewables and achieve net zero.

“We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the benefit of the East Coast. Cluster and our partners and stakeholders.”