Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
1/9/2015
The White Rose CCS project in the United Kingdom, which is currently undergoing a two year Front End Engineering and Design study, took significant steps forward late last month with the acceptance of the project’s Development Consent Order (DCO) by the Planning Inspectorate and the award of a development contract for carbon transportation and storage by National Grid. The plant is being managed by the Capture Power Ltd consortium, made up of British utility Drax, BOC and Alstom. Once completed, White Rose will be a fully equipped oxy-fuel combustion CCS facility and would capture 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions for transport to a storage site beneath the North Sea seabed. “Much work has already been undertaken to get us this far, including an extensive consultation exercise with the local community and a technical consultation on issues such as visual impact, ecology, noise, traffic and air quality. The results of the consultation have been very positive and we are particularly pleased by the support we have received from the local community,” Leigh Hackett, CEO of Capture Power, said in a Capture Power release.
Now that the DCO has been accepted for examination, a planning inspector will consider the project’s merits and then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Based on that recommendation, the Secretary will then decide if the project will be granted development consent. “On being granted Development Consent, subject to funding being agreed, the intention is to develop a new, up to 448MWe (gross), coal-fired demonstration oxy-fuel power plant with full CCS equipment on land adjacent to the existing Drax Power Station, near Selby, North Yorkshire. The Project would be one of the first large scale power plants of its type in the world,” the release says.
Applied Drilling Technology International Limited Awarded Drilling Contract
National Grid, the U.K.’s grid operator, awarded a contract for the FEED study on the wells required for the project to Applied Drilling International Limited (ADTI) late last month. The wells will be located in the North Sea where CO2 will be stored. The contract covers the design of a “shallow water well envelope and special features to make the wells suitable for CO2 storage,” according to a National Grid press release. ADTI will also explore material selection and cost estimation for the project. "ADTI is delighted to be involved in this important and high profile project. With its expertise in offshore well construction and previous experience in the Carbon Capture and Storage sector, ADTI is looking forward to working with NGC and the other FEED contractors to successfully deliver the project objectives,” Andrew Stannard, CEO of ADTI, said in the release.
