UK reveals undersea CO2 storage plans

UK North Sea CCS Licensing aligns Crown Estate leases with DECC permits for offshore CO2 storage, advancing carbon capture and storage and compliance with EU rules across UK waters, excluding Scottish territorial waters.

The future storage of captured carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the UK took an important step forward, as the government outlined how it will license CO2 storage under the seabed.

The Crown Estate and the Department of Energy and Climate Change DECC will work closely with developers to license suitable areas for carbon storage projects such as a North Sea CCS network under development.

The Crown Estate will issue leases for suitable locations for potential storage under the seabed, while DECC will be responsible for issuing the carbon-storage licenses at these locations.

The news comes in the same week that the UK and Norway cemented their existing energy and carbon storage endeavours, issuing a joint ministerial statement regarding their intention to develop carbon capture and storage CCS technology, as well as other energy projects that include CO2 storage in the North Sea as a priority.

Last June, the UK and Norway announced plans to study how the North Sea could be used for storing captured CO2.

According to DECC, CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide from power stations and transporting it to geological sites under the North Sea where it will "remain safely stored and permanently isolated from the atmosphere." DECC believes that CCS can reduce the CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel power stations by up to 90 and has refused to allow any new fossil-fuel power stations to be built in the UK without a working CCS process.

"Carbon capture and storage is essential for mitigating climate change while maintaining energy security," said Charles Hendry, the UK's Minister of State for Energy, on the publication of the government's response to the consultation, even as the UK may cut carbon storage funding according to recent reports. "There is enough potential under the North Sea to store more than 100 years worth of carbon dioxide emissions from the UK's power fleet, and we need to make the most of that."

DECC will now put forward the regulations in Parliament in order to comply with European rules on the underground storage of carbon dioxide. They will come into effect on October 1. The regulations will apply to all offshore areas within UK's jurisdiction, except Scottish territorial waters, where Scotland is jockeying for a carbon-capture lead in industry and policy. The Scottish government will make separate CCS regulations.

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