National Grid has pulled out of plans to construct fresh pipelines in the Humber area for carbon capture and transportation to the North Sea.
National Grid Ventures (NGV), the company’s subsidiary, is currently engaged in discussions with potential partners to sell the onshore pipeline project and has already withdrawn from an earlier stage of the initiative.
Carbon capture and storage is believed to be crucial to achieving net zero emissions, but it is not yet widely implemented in the UK.
Recently, power plants in the Humber region missed out on government support for carbon capture.
The UK Government aims to capture and store up to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions underground by 2030.
NGV was involved in plans to capture emissions from two of the UK’s largest industrial areas – Humber and Teesside – and store them under the North Sea.
The company was expected to develop 120-kilometre pipelines starting from Drax’s power station in North Yorkshire, collecting emissions from factories and power plants in North Lincolnshire, and carrying them out towards Easington on the coast.
NGV has now withdrawn from the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), which was developing the offshore section of the carbon capture project with companies such as bp, TotalEnergies and Shell.
It also sells its interests in the planned new Humber pipelines to the NEP. bp is expected to become the system operator from end to end.
National Grid has sold a majority stake in its gas pipeline arm to a coalition led by Macquarie, to focus on electricity networks.
A National Grid spokesperson told ELN: “NGV has already transitioned out of the NEP, the offshore aspects of the East Coast Cluster.
“We’re in discussion to transfer our interest in the Humber onshore systems to NEP. There is a natural synergy with the overall NEP T&S system, which will serve carbon capture projects across Teesside and the Humber.
“NGV’s decision to transfer our interests to NEP is part of National Grid’s broader strategic focus on the company’s existing UK portfolio, in which they are investing more than £15 billion by 2026 to integrate renewables and deliver net zero.
“We are committed to managing a smooth transition in the best interests of the East Coast Cluster and our partners and stakeholders.”
