A project with the potential to ‘decarbonise’ East Anglia by injecting and storing carbon dioxide deep beneath the North Sea has been approved.
Perenco, a privately owned oil and gas company, has secured a UK license to inject carbon dioxide into the Leman offshore gas fields, 30 miles north-east of Great Yarmouth.
The project, which is due to be online by 2029, will see carbon dioxide injected into depleted gas reservoirs and saline aquifers deep underground to reduce carbon emissions.
Bacton Gas Terminal is set to play a key part in the carbon capture and storage process, receiving and processing carbon dioxide from onshore sources before transporting it to the offshore Leman gas fields via a pipeline.
Initial carbon dioxide injection rates will be about 1.5 million tonnes per annum, ramping up to about 10 million tonnes by 2030, and eventually peaking at 40 million the following year.
North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker said this is a “landmark deal” to put the East of England “at the forefront of decarbonisation”.
He said: “My meeting in parliament just last month, to bring all the major players in the hydrogen and renewables sector together, highlighted just how important Bacton is.
“Now it is not just a hydrogen hub that could put Bacton on the map but also carbon capture and storage technology using our disused gas fields.
“I am delighted that we are seeing North Norfolk play a vital role in net zero but also being awarded significant investment opportunities.”
Perenco UK general manager, Jonathan White, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to leverage Perenco’s deep experience of gas operations by developing a project that will help to support the UK’s energy transition, generate highly skilled jobs locally and nationally, and actively facilitate the government’s net zero targets”.
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