Building a world-leading green energy scheme in Peterhead will create 44,000 jobs and generate £7billion for the Scottish economy, a new report will claim today.
Finance Secretary John Swinney will tonight outline how Peterhead Power Station can help the north-east become the carbon capture and storage (CCS) capital of Europe.
A Shell-led proposal to use the Buchan port as a base for the world’s first commercial-scale CCS plant moved to the advanced design stage in February.
A total of 10million tonnes of harmful CO2 would be captured over a decade and stored in a depleted North Sea gas field 62 miles offshore.
A new independent report by Element Energy concludes that Scotland’s existing infrastructure, skills base, potential storage and enhanced oil recovery sites in the Central North Sea make it the best place to develop the scheme – ahead of Norway.
Key findings include:
The potential value added to the Scottish economy alone would be up to £7 billion over the period to 2050, excluding tax receipts;
That an aggressive CCS programme could create 44,000 jobs over the next four decades;
That 1,700 million tonnes of harmful CO2 could be pumped underground intead of being released into the atmosphere.
It also found that Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) – where chemicals are used to flush out extra oil from aging fields – could help produce at least 1.4billion extra barrels.
“The economy in Aberdeen and the north-east is one of Scotland’s success stories,” Mr Swinney said.
“The track record of the Scottish Government where we have some devolved control over our economy – including major investment in Aberdeen – demonstrates what can be done if we exercise control here in Scotland.
“The Scottish Government have been robust advocates of CCS for over a decade now, recognising the strong comparative advantages that Scotland has in academic expertise, industrial know-how and the unrivalled storage capacity in the North Sea and Scotland is are already contributing financially to the UK CCS Competition through the taxes we pay to the Treasury.
“Today’s report from Element Energy shows that CCS is a £7billion opportunity for Scotland’s economy to 2050, including the economy of the north-east.
“Scotland is perfectly placed to play a leading role in the development of CCS and capture a major share of the global market.”