United Kingdom – A new report reveals that if governments and business take swift action, supply chain companies in the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector will be in a strong position to secure work in carbon capture and storage (CCS).
CCS has been acknowledged as a crucial technology to achieving net zero in energy-intensive industries like cement and power generation. According to the UK’s Net Zero Strategy, 50 million tonnes must be captured annually by 2035.
According to the report, which was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and created by the industry association OEUK as part of the North Sea Transition Deal, offshore oil and gas supply chain companies already have some capabilities in areas like plant design and engineering, plant fabrication, and plant construction.
Suggested actions
It suggests 13 actions for both the government and business, including the need for early-stage funding and additional licensing rounds from the latter.
The majority of the elements required for a successful CCS industry are found to be present in the UK, along with a sizable potential market for exports of technology and expertise, sizable industrial clusters, extensive gas transport infrastructure, and a solid scientific understanding of the geological conditions required for long-term CO2 storage.
According to the report, CCS could be worth £20 billion in the next ten years and £100 billion by 2050 to the offshore oil and gas supply chain. One of the largest in Europe, the UK has an estimated total storage capacity of 78 gigatons, which is sufficient to store all of the country’s current emissions for two centuries.
The report also suggests that the government speed up Track 2 clusters and add more licensing rounds for storage sites. Even though it has the necessary experience, the supply chain is fragile, and if the UK does not gain a first-mover advantage, it runs the risk of losing it to more lucrative opportunities elsewhere in the world.
Communities in Aberdeen, Inverness, Liverpool, North Wales, East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Teesside, where the existing offshore energy industry is well-positioned to expand into new sectors, including CCS, will particularly benefit from securing this work in the UK.
