A consortium of Technip Energies, GE Vernova, contractor Balfour Beatty Group and Shell Catalysts & Technologies has received notice to proceed on building the 742-MW Net Zero Teesside Power project in northeast England—which could become one of the world’s first commercial scale gas-fired power plants with carbon capture and storage. Captured emissions will be injected beneath the North Sea for permanent storage.

Project owner NZT Power Ltd., made up of energy giants bp and Equinor, each with a 45% share. and TotalEnergies with 10%, said it recently reached financial close on the project with work to start next year. The three firms also comprise the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), which will develop the carbon pipeline and storage infrastructure.

U.K. Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho earlier this year approved the estimated $1.9 billion combined cycle power plant, and the related projects that will generate a construction investment estimated at $5 billion.

The U.K. government has pledged more than $27 billion for projects over the net 25 years to capture and store carbon emissions from energy and heavy industry sources in the region. Teesside, located on the River Tees in England, hosts several industrial, power and hydrogen production facilities. NZT Power and NEP form a key part of England's East Coast Cluster, a U.K. initiative to decarbonize its Teesside and Humber industrial regions.

Technip Energies, GE Vernova, contractor Balfour Beatty Group and Shell Catalysts & Technologies have notice to proceed on 742-MW net-zero commercial power project at this location in the Teesside, England industrial zone, which will include carbon capture and storage. Captured emissions will be piped for permanent storage beneath the North Sea.
Credit: NZT Power Ltd

 The projects are set to start up in 2028, with an estimated 2 million tons of CO₂ to be captured annually. Facility construction could create more than 3,000 construction jobs, the firms said, adding that the initiative is expected to attract private investment and help the U.K. reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

While the U.K. has no current commercial carbon capture and storage applications, the government has a target to capture and store 20 million tons of CO₂ per year by 2030, says the London School of Economics and Political Science.

 "Backing the carbon capture industry will help reignite industrial heartlands and drive investment in industrial communities such as Teesside,” said the U.K. government in a statement. “Our industrial heartlands have been held back by 14 years of instability and low-growth,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said earlier this year. “The investment is proof that this government is taking a different approach by ... investing in the industries of the future.”

'Cleaner and Greener'

Technip Energies will lead integration of a carbon capture system using its own technology and powered by Shell’s CANSOLV CO₂ capture system. GE Vernova, the energy unit spun off in April from General Electric Corp., will install gas and steam turbines and related heat recovery and gas recirculation systems. Balfour Beatty will construct the power plant and CCS systems. “Net Zero Teesside is a transformational project, underpinning the U.K. transition to cleaner and greener energy consumption that will drive economic growth in the Northeast," said Balfour Beatty CEO Leo Quinn. Elise H. Nowee, president of Shell Catalysts & Technologies added that power plant is also designed to "offer flexibility to balance the grid when renewable energy sources like wind or solar fall short.”

Contracts to several globally-based engineering and construction firms have been awarded for the net zero and carbon capture projects. U.K.-based Costain leads onshore CO₂ gathering system and gas connection design, and recently completed front end engineering design on the Teesside power plant, while U.K.-based engineer Wood leads integrated project management and Italy-based contractor Saipem will build the offshore pipeline and other onshore facilities.

Technip, GE Vernova, Balfour Beatty and the Shell unit formed the Carbon Capture Alliance earlier this year, “deeply committed to long-term investment in the U.K., with members already possessing a significant UK footprint and a mature U.K. supply chain,” they said in announcing it.

The current carbon capture and storage effort, which began in 2020, follows two unsuccessful competitions in 2011 and 2015 to  help commercialize the technology in power plants.

But the nonprofit Carbon Tracker advocacy group has disputed the carbon savings, claiming in a study reported in June that the project developers have underreported the level of CO₂ emissions savings. NZT Power declined comment at the time, but activist consultant Andrew Boswell sued in U.K. court, challenging government financial support of the project. 

The British government has agreed to compensate the development team if the court blocks project progress or revokes its notice to proceed, according to a Dec. 10 report in the Financial Times. The publication said it gained access to key documents. Boswell's suit was rejected by the U.K. high court but is set for an appeals court hearing in March.