RWE, one of the UK’s leading electricity generators, and operators of one of the most efficient fleet of gas plants in the UK, has entered into a development partnership with Harbour Energy the UK’s largest independent oil and gas producer. The partnership will enable RWE to investigate options to capture, transport and store CO2 from RWE’s gas fired power stations via Viking CCS (formerly V Net Zero), Harbour Energy’s CO2 transport and storage network.
RWE is looking at carbon capture as a viable solution to deliver decarbonised, reliable and dispatchable power stations that are in the vicinity of the proposed CO2 networks or have access to shipping facilities like Viking CCS
The projects in development are the retrofit of state of the art carbon capture technology at the 1.7GW Staythorpe CCGT, near Newark and a new build H Class CCGT at an RWE owned site on the Humber. The partnership could lead to the transportation and storage of captured CO2 from these sites. The captured CO2 would be transported to the site of the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal. It would then be transported 140 kilometres to Harbour Energy’s depleted Viking gas fields in the North Sea, 9,000 feet beneath the seabed, for secure permanent storage.
Steve Cox, EVP HSES, Net Zero and CCS, Harbour Energy, commented: “The involvement of RWE, one of the UK’s largest power producers, in the Viking CCS network strengthens the UK’s global leadership in terms of the transformative power of carbon capture and storage. We look forward to working together to make a nationally significant contribution to the UK’s CO2 emissions reduction targets, while creating and safeguarding low carbon jobs and maintaining vital but hard to decarbonise industries in the Humber and surrounding regions.”
Tom Glover RWE UK country Chair commented, “RWE recognises that the East Coast has become a hub for decarbonisation and is delighted to be working in partnership with Harbour Energy to develop generation assets which could complement the ongoing decarbonisation activities in the region. These projects ensure that we can continue to provide safe, efficient, flexible and reliable generation to power the UK whilst supporting our ongoing commitment to help Britain in its pathway to achieve net zero.”