Humza Yousaf has called on the UK Government to end delays to a north-east carbon capture scheme which could deliver thousands of jobs.
The first minister visited Peterhead Power Station on Tuesday where he expressed his support of the project, based at the St Fergus Gas Terminal near the town.
The scheme, known as Acorn, missed out on UK Government support in 2021, which instead went to two areas in the North of England.
A second round of support would see winning schemes operational from 2030 but there have been delays to announcing next steps for the funding.
An update will be provided this summer but Mr Yousaf said Scotland’s net zero future is being “held back by UK Government dithering and delay”.
‘Never-ending delays’
The SNP leader added: “This is entirely unacceptable and layers further uncertainty on top of never-ending delays which are impacting investor confidence and which compromise our climate-change commitments and just-transition ambitions.
“Acorn’s target of capturing and storing up to five million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030 is critical to Scotland’s plans to achieve net zero by 2045, ahead of the rest of the UK. The scheme will also help the UK Government to deliver on its commitments.”
The plan is to use carbon capture and storage technology to trap harmful emissions and transport them, either by pipeline or shipping, for permanent storage underground.
It aim to remove climate-changing emissions from the air and help move to a lower carbon future.
Earlier this year, UK ministers insisted the Aberdeenshire scheme is “one of the two best placed” for funding.
‘Doom and gloom’
Banff and Buchan Conservative MP David Duguid accused Mr Yousaf of “petty and divisive political games”.
He said: “Every now and again an SNP minister visits the region to complain about lack of progress but I engage regularly with the project and despite the SNP’s doom and gloom the Scottish Cluster has never stopped being developed.
“UK Government Ministers have repeatedly told us Acorn is in prime position for Track 2 sequencing prior to operational plans for 2027 and that a final decision will be made this summer.”
‘Net zero ambitions’
Catherine Raw is managing director of SSE Thermal who are part of the Scottish cluster group of industrial companies backing the plans.
She said: “To unlock the potential of Peterhead and the wider region, it is vital that the Scottish Cluster is brought forward urgently, allowing the development of decarbonisation projects to be accelerated and Scotland’s net-zero ambitions to be met.
“Doing so will not only help us meet our energy goals, it will also support industries and provide a fair and just transition for workers and communities across the north-east of Scotland, including at Peterhead.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are making the entire UK a world leader in carbon capture, backed by an unprecedented £20 billion, and are accelerating development of this vital technology as part of our greater efforts to increase energy security.
“Scotland can play a strong role in developing and expanding the use of CCUS and we have already allocated the Scottish cluster over £40 million in development funding in recent years.”