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Fourteen Companies Awarded Licenses Through the UK’s First-ever Carbon Storage Licensing Round
18th September 2023
The UK Government’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has announced the list of companies that have accepted the 21 carbon storage licenses awarded under the first-ever carbon storage licensing round.
The licensee recipients, along with their partners, include ENI, Perenco, Carbon Catalyst, Spirit Energy, Pale Blue Dot, Shell, EnQuest, Synergia Energy, Neptune Energy, Chrysaor, BP, Equinor, Wintershall Dea Carbon Management Solutions UK and Esso Exploration and Production UK.
The fourteen companies will be able to use around 12,000sq km of depleted oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers. Issued licenses include offshore sites by Norfolk, Aberdeen, Teesside and Liverpool, with the first injection of CO2 expected to occur within the decade.
This move follows the six licenses that have been already granted by the NSTA on an ad hoc basis and builds on the government’s £20 billion budgetary commitment to drive CCS projects across the UK to support climate targets. Once developed, the storage sites will have the potential to curb around 10% of the UK’s emissions by storing around 30 million tonnes of captured CO2 per year.
The carbon storage licensing round was initiated by the NSTA in June 2022. The NSTA notes that CCS is expected to play a crucial role in the energy transition, and around 100 storage licenses will be required to meet net-zero targets.
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