Energy majors bp, Eni, Equinor, National Grid, Shell and Total have launched ‎a new partnership to accelerate the development of offshore carbon dioxide ‎transport and storage infrastructure in the UK North Sea.

The new infrastructure, which will be operated by bp, will serve two proposed projects – the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH).

It will aim to decarbonise the industrial clusters using carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen technologies.

The project is forecast to allow the decarbonisation of nearly 50% of the UK’s industrial emissions. and will see the development of an offshore pipeline network to ‎transport captured carbon dioxide emissions from both NZT and ZCH projects to offshore storage beneath the ‎UK North Sea.‎

Andy Lane, Vice President of CCUS Solutions at bp and Managing Director for Net Zero Teesside, said: “The formation of the Northern Endurance Partnership is another significant milestone towards ‎developing the offshore infrastructure that will be needed to safely transport and store carbon dioxide from ‎CCUS projects along England’s east coast.”

Grete Tveit, Senior Vice President for Low Carbon Solutions at Equinor, commented: “Carbon capture and ‎storage is a crucial technology for reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and we are committed ‎to working with others to create real change.”

Martin Cook, Senior Vice President for Business Development for National Grid Ventures, said: “National Grid sits at the heart of the UK’s energy system and we want to contribute to the economic ‎recovery through investing in solutions to support a net zero future.”