Scottish breakthrough in carbon-capture technology

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Credit: PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty

A gas-fired power plant in Scotland may be able to generate ultra-low carbon power at a cheaper cost than ­nuclear, according to its developers.

The engineers behind the Caledonia Clean Energy Project (CCEP) claim a scheme to strip the carbon emissions from the flue of a gas-fired power plant could be developed through a Government contract worth between £80 and £90 a megawatt hour.

The project would be a lower cost to the consumer than high-profile new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, and produce just a tenth of the carbon emissions of a traditional gas-fired power plant.

By using carbon capture technology, and existing pipeline infrastructure to transport and permanently store the gas underground, the developers ­believe they may have found an answer to Britain’s need for flexible and predictable low-carbon power.

“Until now, it has not been possible to take advantage of the desirable flexibility of natural gas-fired power plants to support renewables without having to accept significant amounts of undesirable CO2 emissions,” said the project’s feasibility study. “As this report shows, CCEP can help resolve this long-standing technical, global ­climate, and grid conundrum.”

Gas-fired power plants are an ideal partner to renewable energy projects because their output can be easily ramped up and wound down, in line with changes to wind and solar output. However, the UK’s reliance on gas is ­under pressure due to legally binding climate targets to reduce the amount of carbon from the energy sector.

Stephen Kerr, from CCEP, said the project could also serve as the “anchor tenant” for infrastructure that makes carbon capture and storage possible for some of Scotland’s largest chemical plants and refineries.

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