BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 10. Equinor and its partners have announced the financial close and Final Investment Decision (FID) for two of the UK’s pioneering carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Teesside: the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) and Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power). These projects mark a significant step in the UK’s efforts to decarbonize industrial regions and achieve its net-zero goals, Trend reports.
NEP will serve as the CO2 transport and storage provider for the East Coast Cluster (ECC), one of the UK’s first government-approved CCS initiatives. Construction is set to begin in mid-2025, with operations expected by 2028. The project aims to initially transport and store up to 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, with the potential to expand to 23 million tonnes by 2035.
NZT Power, a gas-fired power plant incorporating CCS technology, will generate up to 742 megawatts of low-carbon electricity, enough to meet the average demand of 1 million UK homes. The facility will capture up to 2 million tonnes of CO2 annually for storage via NEP’s infrastructure.
Equinor holds a 45% stake in NEP and a 25% stake in NZT Power, with bp and TotalEnergies as key partners. The combined investment in these projects is approximately £4 billion, supporting thousands of jobs and economic growth in the north-east of England.
These initiatives align with Equinor’s broader low-carbon strategy, which includes reducing operated emissions by 50% and investing half of its capital expenditure in renewable and low-carbon technologies by 2030.
Alex Grant, Equinor’s UK country manager, emphasized the projects’ significance in decarbonizing industrial regions, creating jobs, and supporting the UK’s energy transition.
Construction will involve nine leading engineering and procurement contractors, with NEP also advancing plans for a CO2 pipeline in the Humber region to support future CCS projects.