UK Government commits £200m for Acorn carbon capture project in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire

The UK Government has committed £200m for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire.

The pledge has followed less than 24 hours after chancellor Rachel Reeves committed to supporting the Scottish project as part of her three-year spending review.

Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison previously said she was “clearly pleased” that Westminster committed to the Acorn project, but added “what’s been committed to is not clear”.

On Thursday, the UK Labour Government said it would meet “in full” the £200m request for development funding to prepare Acorn for delivery.

“This government is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the trailblazing Acorn and Viking CCS projects,” energy secretary Ed Miliband said.

“This will support industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain’s clean energy future.

“Carbon capture will make working people in Britain’s hard-working communities better off, breathing new life into their towns and cities and reindustrialising the country through our Plan for Change.”

The project captures emissions from industrial sites before they reach the atmosphere, storing them under the North Sea.

It’s hoped that the funding will accelerate the UK’s mission to become a clean energy superpower.

Once Acorn and Viking are operational, combined, they could remove up to 18m tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

Acorn has also said its project will safeguard around 18,000 jobs in the North Sea that would otherwise have been lost, including jobs at Grangemouth.

The industry expects it will support approximately 15,000 jobs at its peak construction.

As the project develops, Westminster said funding will also provide financial cover for the National Gas SCO₂T Connect project, to repurpose an existing 175 mile gas pipeline to allow CO2 captured at Grangemouth to be transported to storage facilities under the North Sea.

“We warmly welcome the UK Government’s support for the Acorn project and the commitment to development funding that will enable the critical work needed to reach Final Investment Decision,” Tim Stedman, CEO Storegga, lead developer of Acorn, said.

“Building on the momentum from the Track 1 projects and significant private sector investment, this milestone is key not only for Acorn but for establishing Scotland’s essential CCS infrastructure needed to grow and scale the UK’s wider carbon capture and storage industry.

“We look forward to working with Government in the months ahead to understand the details of today’s commitment, and to ensure the policy, regulatory and funding frameworks are in place to build and grow a world-leading UK CCS sector.”