National Grid and ETI to Assess Offshore Carbon Storage Site in U.K.

National Grid and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) have announced plans to conduct the U.K.’s first drilling assessment of an offshore saline formation for the storage of carbon dioxide, at a site 70 km off Flamborough Head in Yorkshire. The formation is close to the shore and near two major clusters of carbon dioxide emitters in the U.K., making it an ideal storage location. National Grid will drill two wells in the seabed to gather data to confirm that carbon dioxide can be safely and permanently stored at the site, while also confirming the scale and economics of the storage site. The project represents a major step forward in the development of carbon capture and transportation hubs considered to be critical to the creation of a CCS industry in the U.K.

ETI will be investing £2 million (US$3.2 million) in the project. ETI is a public-private partnership created in 2007 to accelerate the development of low carbon technologies in the U.K. The institute is funded 50:50 by the Government and industry. There are currently six core industry members who each commit up to £5 million per year, matched by the U.K. Government.