North Sea Transition Authority gives green light for 20 carbon storage sites in UK waters

Spirit Energy, the gas producer majority-owned by Centrica, says it has been offered a storage licence to repurpose the depleted North and South Morecambe gasfields in the Irish Sea
Spirit Energy, the gas producer majority-owned by Centrica, says it has been offered a storage licence to repurpose the depleted North and South Morecambe gasfields in the Irish Sea
SPIRIT ENERGY

Plans to bury some of Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions under the seabed have moved a step closer to reality with the provisional award of 20 new carbon storage licences by the oil and gas regulator.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said that the sites offered licences could make a “significant contribution” to Britain’s goal of storing up to 30 million tonnes of CO2 each year by 2030 — equivalent to a tenth of Britain’s total carbon dioxide emissions in 2021.

The licences, spanning 12,000 square kilometres or an area slightly bigger than Yorkshire, have been offered to 12 companies who applied for them in the first competitive allocation round launched last summer. About half of the licences are for storage in depleted oil