Mersey Reporter - #Merseybites #News

ON 14 May 2025, nominations opened for potential carbon storage locations as the:- North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) builds momentum following the permits granted at the HyNet industrial cluster.

The NSTA issued three carbon storage permits to Eni for:- Liverpool Bay CCS, the CO2 transportation and storage system which will serve the HyNet industrial cluster, in April and another to the Northern Endurance Partnership in December last year, after the Government pledged up to £21.7 billion of funding available, over 25 years, to make the UK a global leader in:- carbon capture and storage, an industry estimated to support:- 50,000 skilled jobs in the long term.

And today’s call for nominations keeps up the pace as the North Sea continues to play a crucial part in the drive for the UK to meet net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Government's climate adviser, The Climate Change Committee, has insisted there is no credible path to net zero without carbon storage.

The process of seeking pre-application nominations should encourage companies to focus on areas where they have already done some technical work, encouraging higher quality applications and likely cutting time to project delivery.

Companies submitting nominations will be required to submit spatial data and describe a high-level project description, which will allow the:- NSTA, Crown Estate Scotland (CES), and The Crown Estate (TCE) to consider any spatial planning interactions and opportunities.

Once the nominations window closes on:- 31 July, the NSTA will evaluate the proposals, working closely with CES, TCE and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, to align carbon storage licensing and seabed leasing, and ensure minimal impact on other offshore sectors and users such as current or planned windfarms and tidal schemes.

The NSTA previously offered 21 licences in the world's 1st large scale carbon storage licensing round, which concluded in:- September 2023.

The UK Continental Shelf has the potential capacity to store up to:- 78 gigatonnes of CO2 in depleted reservoirs and saline aquifers, so it is expected that industry will be able to nominate good quality sites for a prospective licensing round.

Stuart Payne, NSTA Chief Executive, said:- "Carbon storage is a crucial part of the energy transition and an essential element of the path to net zero. We've been talking about carbon storage for many years, but now we have reached the milestone of having permitted 2 projects which will turbocharge the UK's drive to unlock:- investment, jobs, and economic growth, and reach net zero emissions by 2050. We are pleased by the ongoing enthusiasm from industry, and aware that pace is needed as we help to effect the transition, and that is why we are calling for nominations now."