A £40 million plan to export carbon dioxide from the Humber ahead of its emergence as a domestic storage gateway has been revealed.
Anaerobic digestion specialist Future Biogas is fixed on the estuary as a route to Norway’s world-leading Northern Lights project for CO2 produced at its growing number of plants in the East of England.
The clean energy company aims to build 25 new integrated facilities in the next seven years, while also adding 20 ‘bolt-on’ carbon capture units to existing operations - 10 of which it owns and others it has delivered for third parties.
Philipp Lukas, chief executive, said: “We have signed up with Northern Lights as the first potential storage site. That’s where we’re looking to export CO2 to. We are looking to do that from the Humber as it is a natural location, and another reason is in the medium to long term - the second half of this decade - two different projects on the Humber may be coming to fruition. They are not as advanced as the Norwegian project, but they will come. It is an obvious location.”
Equinor, Shell and Total are behind the huge proposal.
On the Humber, an exact location could be “nailed down in the next three to six months” with the timeline for delivery aligned to the Northern Lights project - currently set for 2024.
Details were released as the Guildford-headquartered company announced it intends to float on the London Stock Exchange, with a £35 million raise eyed on the AIM market. Admission is expected by July.
Mr Lukas said: “Biogas is a proven and reliable green alternative to fossil fuels. Our planned initial public offering will allow us to expand our portfolio of biogas plants. As a source of energy generated entirely in the 海角视频, we can reduce the need for gas imports. Furthermore, our plans to add carbon capture and storage technology to existing and future plants, will move us from a carbon neutral company to one that actively reduces the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
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“Through our relationship with Northern Lights, Future Biogas will be one of the first green CO2 projects to permanently store CO2 underground. The carbon credits we receive will be sold to companies so they can support decarbonisation beyond their own carbon footprint. “This is a very exciting development, and we look forward to delivering on our ambitious plans.”
Established in 2008, the company uses anaerobic digestion to convert feedstocks into biogas, from which it either generates green electricity or upgrades to biomethane and injects into the 海角视频 gas network.
It has plants in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and Norfolk, and the existing 400GWH portfolio is also behind the heat for the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and Aqua Sana Spa at Center Parcs in Nottinghamshire.
Mr Lukas is buoyed by the subsidy regime and the environmental benefits offered by energy crops, with improved soil fertility for farmers when it comes to crop rotation.
Currently vented into the atmosphere on site, the C02 would instead be liquified and transported by road tanker to the new facility, from which it would be shipped to Norway’s west coast where an onshore terminal is being developed. It would then be transported to the subsea storage location.
Zero Carbo Humber - also led by Equinor - and Humber Zero, from VPI Immingham and Phillips 66, are the two 海角视频 projects, with the former linking with Teesside for storage and the latter potentially bringing back former gas infrastructure off the Lincolnshire coast. They are both working through the design process after being backed by government.