Sir Ian Wood, a leading figure in the energy transition, has called on the Prime Minister to intervene after one of the partners in a proposed carbon capture and storage project in Scotland said it is selling its stake.
The UK Government has pledged £200m for the Acorn project at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire but Storegga said its decision follows a “strategic review” of its business.
“As part of this, we are progressing a structured sales process for our portfolio of assets, including the sale of our interest in the Acorn CCS project,” said a spokesman.
“With Acorn approaching a more capital-intensive phase, and with both the UK and Scottish Governments signalling the importance of its timely delivery, we have concluded that a new long-term owner would be better placed to take the project forward.”
Acorn has said the project will safeguard around 18,000 jobs in the North Sea that would otherwise have been lost.
The project captures emissions from industrial sites before they reach the atmosphere, storing them under the North Sea.
National Gas – the company tasked with building the crucial pipeline feeding CO2 into St Fergus – said not a penny of the £200 million pledged by the UK government for the project has yet been released.
The decisions by Storegga and National Gas comes after two major emissions generators which underpinned the Acorn project – ExxonMobil’s Mossmorran plant and the Grangemouth refinery – have shut or are planning to shut.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “This is a commercial decision for Storegga Ltd. UK Government remains committed to the Acorn project.”
Sir Ian Wood, chair of ETZ, said: “This news is deeply concerning for Scotland and the UK’s energy transition, and I urge the UK and Scottish Government to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to secure the future of Scotland’s only Carbon Capture Cluster.
“The Acorn project is a cornerstone of Scotland’s energy transition. Its strategic value lies not just in the thousands of jobs it will safeguard and create, but in its enormous potential to unlock further investment, drive innovation, and build a viable path to decarbonisation. It must now be supported to proceed.
“The situation is particularly acute across the North East of Scotland where we are losing jobs at an alarming rate. It is now incumbent on the Prime Minister, visiting Scotland today, to act decisively and end the existing windfall tax now particularly given, by their own admission, there is no windfall.
“This would secure the world-class jobs and company base that will be so vital in delivering the vast opportunities in renewables when they are available commercially and at scale. Government must take urgent action now to end the existing serious damage from the windfall tax.”
Companies urge end to windfall tax
More than 6,000 companies, business leaders and workers have signed up to a campaign calling on the UK Government to fast-track its new North Sea fiscal regime and avert tens of thousands of “avoidable” job losses.
IOn a letter to the Chancellor they say economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, published alongside the Budget, note that UK Government revenues from the North Sea will fall by 93% between now and 2030, from £4.5bn to £0.3bn.
The OBR makes clear that a decline in domestic oil and gas production, driven by the continued application of the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), is to blame. That same decline in production is increasing reliance on imported energy, which cost the UK more than £60bn last year.
The UK Government has already designed a new, fairer North Sea regime – the Oil & Gas Price Mechanism (OGPM) – which would only kick in when prices are elevated, ranging from an oil price of $90 next year, through to $97 in 2030.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is leading the campaign calling on the Chancellor to accelerate the introduction of the OGPM. In just three days, the campaign has attracted thousands of signatures from workers, businesses and community leaders from across Scottish public life.
Signatories include Sir Ian Wood, Martin Gilbert, Dave Cormack, Aberdeen FC Chairman, financial services sector leader Sandy Begbie, Sarah Thiam, chief executive at Prosper, and Kam Jandu, who leads Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton Airports.
Leading figures from the green energy sector have also backed the campaign, including Claire Mack of Scottish Renewables and Barry McLeod, chief executive of Flotation Energy which is developing Europe’s first commercial scale floating windfarm.
GB Energy plan published
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