UK Government selects White Rose as a candidate for EU and UK funding

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Capture Power Limited ("Capture Power") today welcomed the UK Government's announcement that it has selected the White Rose CCS Project as a candidate for EU and UK funding, with a final decision to be made in the next few months.

The main points from the announcement are:

 The Government is supporting two UK CCS projects as prime candidates for EU funding: White Rose and Teesside Low Carbon Project. It has also said it could support the Peterhead project as a further candidate from the EUs reserve list.  

 After considering eight bids for UK funding, the Government has chosen four projects, including White Rose, for a further assessment before making a final decision early in the New Year.

 The four successful projects are now being invited to take part in a period of intensive commercial negotiations with the Government.

 In taking these decisions, the Government looked carefully at project deliverability, value for money and the UKs timetable to deliver a cost-competitive CCS industry in the 2020s.

Commenting on the announcement, a Capture Power spokesperson said: "The Government has made a thorough assessment of the bids it received and we are pleased that they have recognised the strong potential of the White Rose CCS Project. We now intend to work with the Government on the next phase of assessment for UK funding."

The White Rose CCS Project will help to drive the formation of a CCS cluster for CO2 transportation and storage, as well as help to demonstrate the Oxyfuel CCS technology for other projects in the UK and abroad. 

Located on land adjacent to the existing Drax Power Station, near Selby in North Yorkshire, the 426MW (gross) power plant will burn coal with the added ability to co-fire sustainable biomass and meet the equivalent power needs of over 630,000 homes. Fully equipped with CCS technology from the outset, 90% of all the CO2 produced by the plant will be captured and transported by pipeline for permanent storage deep beneath the North Sea seabed.

Capture Power is a consortium set up by Alstom, Drax and BOC to develop the White Rose CCS Project, in close co-operation with National Grid.

Media Contacts

Jonathan Smith (Alstom UK) Tel: +44 (0)1788 545602; email: jonathan.smith@alstom.com

Melanie Wedgbury (Drax) Tel: +44 (0)1757  612933; email: melanie.wedgbury@draxpower.com

Susan Tyzack (BOC) Tel: +44 (0)1483 244224; email: susan.tyzack@boc.com

Stephanie Van Rosse (National Grid) Tel: #44 (0)1455 231131 email: stephanie.van-rosse@nationalgrid.com