Fears have been raised of “another false dawn” for north-east jobs on carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the government risks falling behind on delivery plans. Last year, St Fergus near Peterhead was highlighted by a Westminster taskforce as a key site to deploy CCS at scale, three years after a £1bn fund for a similar project in the region was scrapped. The UK government wants to roll out the clean energy technology widely in the 2030s in order to meet climate targets, and published a clean growth action plan in November to help do so. However, none of the nine points in the strategy which were meant to be completed in 2019 have been achieved yet, leading to fresh concerns over the region being “sold short”. Banffshire and Buchan Coast SNP MSP, Stewart Stevenson, said Westminster needs to “quit stalling and start delivering”. He said: “Peterhead was promised £1billion investment and 600 jobs in 2014, but then the Tories pulled the plug in a cynical betrayal once the independence referendum was out of the way. “CCS investment is back on the table – but the Tories are dragging their feet once more.
Energy Voice 15th April 2019 read more »