UK awards 20 carbon storage licences

22 May 2023

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) awarded 20 carbon storage licences at offshore sites on 18 May. The UK’s first-ever carbon storage licensing round was launched in June 2022, with applications closing in September. The 20 licences in total are around 12,000 square kilometres in size and are located in areas such as Aberdeen, Teesside, Liverpool and Lincolnshire.

Image: NSTA

Once the new storage sites are in operation – and in some cases first injection could come in as little as six years – they could make a significant contribution to the aim of storing up to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂₎per year by 2030, approximately 10% of total UK annual emissions, which were 341.5 million tonnes in 2021, the NSTA said.

The offers come in the wake of the Chancellor’s Budget announcement that the Government is allocating up to £20 billion in support of developing carbon capture, usage and storage, starting with projects in the East Coast, Merseyside and North Wales.

He added that this would pave the way for CCS as the UK approaches 2050. This first carbon storage licensing round is likely to be the first of many as up to 100 CO₂ stores could be needed for the UK to meet the net zero by 2050 target.

The licences include a range of geological store types and were selected following a process which considered attributes such as the geology, proximity to existing infrastructure – as is found at Bacton off the coast of Norfolk – and links to industrial clusters which are expecting carbon storage to help meet decarbonisation goals.

The need to share offshore space with other users of the seabed such as wind developers and petroleum operations was also considered as part of the NSTA’s licensing process, recognising the need for both early engagement and continued collaboration between existing licence and leaseholders where an area of the seabed is a key resource area for different sectors.

The NSTA said the future success of the CCS industry requires close co-operation between a number of organisations, and once a licence has been awarded by the NSTA, the licensee also needs to obtain a seabed lease from The Crown Estate or Crown Estate Scotland before a project can progress. Further consents and approvals will be required ahead of any appraisal activity taking place on carbon storage licences.