Sunak to announce multi-million investment in carbon capture project

Rishi Sunak will travel to Scotland this week to announce multi-million investment in carbon capture project that could create over 21,000 jobs

• Sunak will travel to Aberdeenshire tomorrow to lay out funding for Acorn project 
• Project aims to use legacy oil/gas infrastructure to transport and store carbon 

Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a multimillion-pound investment in a carbon capture project that supporters say could bring up to 21,000 jobs to Scotland.

The Prime Minister will travel to Aberdeenshire tomorrow to lay out funding for the Acorn project, according to The Sunday Times. 

The project is a joint venture between Shell UK and other companies that looks to use legacy oil and gas infrastructure to transport and store carbon.

Mr Sunak and Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps will also meet with top figures from the oil and gas, renewable and nuclear industries over the course of the week.  

It comes after days of criticism and questions for Mr Sunak, amid concerns over a softening of the UK Government’s commitment to key net zero policies and environmental promises, after anger over London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) helped seal victory for the Tories in the Uxbridge by-election.

The Government, despite alarm from climate campaigners, is also committed to new oil and gas licences in the North Sea. 

Rishi Sunak (pictured yesterday) is expected to announce a multimillion-pound investment in a carbon capture project that supporters say could bring up to 21,000 jobs to Scotland

The Prime Minister will travel to Aberdeenshire tomorrow to lay out funding for the Acorn project. Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf (right) is pictured earlier this month during a meeting at Peterhead Power Station where he underlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Acorn project

Energy bosses this week will meet with top figures from the oil and gas, renewable and nuclear industries. Pictured: A wind farm in the UK

The Acorn project aims to use existing oil and gas infrastructure to transport captured carbon to safe, permanent geological storage, according to its website.

The scheme is reportedly being funded through a £20billion portion of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) budget.

Ministers reportedly believe Mr Sunak’s forthcoming announcement will be a ‘game-changer’ in Scotland, which analysts have predicted will be a major battleground in the next general election.

An insider told the Times the project is a ‘big deal for Scotland’ and will detail ‘clear dividing lines with the SNP and Labour by showing that we are the party that will create the jobs of tomorrow’.

Experts claim the announced will also weaken claims by SNP critics that have slammed Downing Street for making ‘broken promises’ over carbon capture funding.

Some Tory MPs have used the party’s victory in the Uxbridge by-election to argue for a shift from the Government to create a new dividing line with Labour.

This comes alongside efforts to revive nuclear energy within the UK, with Mr Shapps hoping to make it a key plank in the Government’s net zero strategy.

Such moves have been deemed increasingly necessary since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Mr Shapps hailing energy security as ‘national security’.

The Acorn project aims to use existing pipelines to transfer greenhouse gases north. Funding for the scheme is reportedly being allocated from a £20billion portion of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) budget over the next decade

The focus on British energy projects comes after days of criticism of Mr Sunak amid concerns over a softening of the Government commitment to key net zero policies and environmental promises. Pictured: Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station near Nottingham

The Energy Secretary has also argued that the Government’s initiatives are helping businesses ‘create new jobs and even whole new industries’.

It is also understood that Acorn project developer Storegga is ready to begin work on the project soon as the Government gives the green light.

Meanwhile, energy minister Lord Martin Callanan has claimed the Government is committed to the 2050 net zero target, but said that the approach must be ‘fair and proportionate’.

Speaking to Times Radio, he defended any push for new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

‘If we can get resources that we would otherwise be importing from our own supplies in the North Sea that employ British people, that raises money for the UK exchequer and it’s actually less carbon intensive than importing that through methods like liquid natural gas,’ he said.

Mr Sunak has sought to step up his attacks on Labour over its green proposals, but on Sunday the party said it would take no lessons from the Conservatives on energy security.

Shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: ‘We’re 13 years into a Conservative government. This is yet another announcement from the Prime Minister. We have to judge them on not what they say, but on what they do.

‘Their record on energy security is very poor indeed. Whether it comes from crashing solar markets, whether it is in terms of preventing, in effect, the development of onshore wind facilities since 2015. There was the failure on gas storage, closing for five years in 2017,’ he told Times Radio.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured in January this year) is expected to meet with top industry figures this week. He has argued that the Government is helping businesses ‘create new jobs and even whole new industries’

Jamie Peters, climate co-ordinator at Friends of the Earth, said ending the UK’s ‘reliance’ on fossil fuels was the ‘only sensible and effective way’ of increasing energy security.

‘This means saying no to new fossil fuel developments and ramping up our investment in renewables and energy efficiency,’ he said.

‘The UK is blessed with huge renewable energy resources, offshore and onshore, and we should be making better use of these for long-term security and economic prosperity.

‘With parts of the world literally on fire, we need our politicians to show bolder leadership on cutting emissions – not more dither and delay.’

Mr Sunak’s announcement is expected to mark the start of the Government’s so-called ‘energy week’.

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