The White Rose project is one of Europe’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. It is being developed by Capture Power, which is a consortium of Alstom, BOC and Drax in cooperation with National Grid.
When built, the plant should capture approximately 90% of its carbon dioxide emissions, and store two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year under the North Sea seabed.
The project includes the construction of a new 426MW clean coal power plant with a large CO2 transport and storage network.
White Rose is the only CCS project in Europe to be allocated funds under the NER300 programme, a European Commission fund for innovative renewable energy technology.
The UK government has committed £100m to the White Rose project, along with another CCS project in Peterhead,
Energy secretary Ed Davey said: “The UK is at the forefront of developing carbon capture and storage, with excellent potential for storage in the North and Irish Seas, and the expertise in operating offshore to make it a reality.
“And as a world leader in the technology, as carbon capture and storage is commercialised Britain will be in first place to export this knowledge to a decarbonising global economy.”
Capture Power CEO Leigh Hackett said: “We’re delighted that the European Commission has made this important NER300 award decision in favour of the White Rose Project. In December 2013, we entered into the FEED contract for the project as a preferred bidder in the UK CCS Commercialisation Programme. The NER300 award represents another significant milestone for us in our development programme and an important potential source of funding for the Project, as well as providing a strong signal for CCS in Europe.
“We are well on track to demonstrate the key role that CCS can play in the future UK energy mix. CCS is an important technology providing clean, reliable and cost competitive electricity with the potential to contribute greatly to the decarbonisation of global power markets.”
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