Led by Storegga, through its wholly owned subsidiary Pale Blue Dot Energy, Shell, and Harbour Energy, the Acorn Project is one of the most mature carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects in the UK and provides critically important infrastructure that will enable industries and homes across Scotland, the UK and Europe to decarbonise.

Acorn CCS is currently in the detailed engineering and design phase of the project. The carbon dioxide (CO2) capture facility is aiming to be operational at the St Fergus gas terminal complex by the mid-2020s. The captured CO2, together with CO2 volumes from other emitters, will be transported and permanently stored offshore, with annual storage volumes anticipated to grow to 5-10Mt/yr of CO₂ by 2030.

If this potential is realised, that would be at least half the CO2 emissions set out in the UK Government’s Ten Point Plan for a green Industrial Revolution by 2030. The project is due to be one of the first industrial-scale carbon capture projects in the UK.

The St Fergus gas terminal, located approximately 65km north of Aberdeen, is integral to meeting UK gas requirements on a daily basis and helps maximise the value of the North Sea’s natural storage potential.

By reusing existing gas pipelines, Acorn will transport the captured CO2 from the gas terminal stacks, into well-understood CO2 storage sites. This establishes a full chain carbon capture and storage process and a large CO2 transport and storage solution that will then be scaled to meet further demand. The CCS network created through the Acorn Project has the potential to be one of the largest operating CCS projects in the world, transporting and storing captured CO2 from emitters across Scotland, the UK and Europe. 

Carbon Clean will work in collaboration with Aberdeen-headquartered Wood on engineering, process design and construction planning for the carbon capture process unit.

Nick Cooper, CEO of Storegga the lead developer of the Acorn Project, said: “This contract award is an important milestone for the Acorn CCS Project. It is excellent working with a group as innovative as Carbon Clean. Like us, they started as a small entrepreneurial business and have used UK Innovation Funds to create organisations that are now ready to significantly contribute to the UK energy transition.

“The Acorn Project has a crucial role to play in helping decarbonise our energy system. It will provide critical infrastructure at scale that will cost effectively transform carbon intensive industries across Scotland and the UK and even Europe; helping build a fairer, more resilient economy, while sustaining and creating low carbon jobs.”       

Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, said: “Carbon Clean has a proven track record of delivering scalable, cost-effective carbon capture solutions; I am delighted to announce our second UK-based project of 2021. We are a British business and, we must positively contribute to the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.

“The carbon dioxide we are hoping to capture from the Acorn CCS Project will have a tangible impact on the UK’s transition to net zero. We look forward to getting underway with the (“FEED”) stage and working with the other consortium partners to implement novel carbon capture and storage solutions.”

Giuseppe Zuccaro, president of process & chemicals at Wood, added: “Reducing carbon intensity is key to delivering sustainable energy solutions and we are proud to play our part in taking St Fergus, a site we have supported for many years, into the low carbon future. The Acorn Project will pave the way for carbon capture technology and execution in the UK; a critical step towards net zero.

“Our carbon capture process knowledge, previous construction experience at St Fergus, and record in designing environmentally considerate projects, makes this a very exciting prospect to work with Carbon Clean on Scotland’s energy transition journey.”