The UK's proposed White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project has been selected to receive funding of up to €300 million under the European NER300 programme.
Capture Power, a consortium of Alstom, Drax and BOC (a member of the Linde Group), is developing the White Rose project in close cooperation with National Grid, who will provide the CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure.
The White Rose proposal envisages the construction of an advanced ultrasupercritical 426 MWe (gross) coal fired oxycombustion demonstration power plant, with full carbon capture and storage from the outset, on land adjacent to the existing Drax Power Station, near Selby in North Yorkshire.
The CO2 captured at White Rose will be transported by pipeline to a permanent geological storage site beneath the North Sea, as part of a project led by National Grid. The transport infrastructure will have a capacity up to 17 million tonnes of CO2 per year through which White Rose will transport around 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year, Capture Power says.
Subject to planning consent, the four-year construction programme could begin as early as next year, enabling White Rose to start generating power in 2019.
"The NER300 award represents another significant milestone for us in our development programme and an important potential source of funding for the Project, as well as providing a strong signal for CCS in Europe," said Capture Power, CEO Leigh Hackett.
NER300 is one of the world's largest funding programmes for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects. In addition to the White Rose funding, the European Commission is awarding an additional €715 million in funding to 18 other projects under the phase 2 of the NER300.
Projects span a range of sector including bioenergy, ocean power, wind power, solar power and smart grid, and are spread across 11 member states (Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Full details of all projects can be found on the EC website.
Photo: Drax site photomontage showing existing power plant and White Rose
Linkedin
