The Keadby 3 Carbon Capture Power Station in North Lincolnshire has become the first power carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the UK to receive development consent.
The project received a Development Consent Order on 7 December 2022 following an extensive period of pre-application consultation and public examination. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) granted the necessary powers following a positive recommendation from the Planning Inspectorate’s examining authority, who commented that Keadby 3 “represents a considerable commitment to removing barriers to carbon capture, and deploying related infrastructure and would be a significant contribution towards the urgent national need for low carbon electricity generation established in NPS EN-1, carried through in the emerging draft NPS EN-1, and which has become more urgent following the legally binding target of net zero by 2050”
DWD led on the DCO application submission and its examination, providing planning, local authority engagement, statutory consultation, valuation, and examination management support to SSE Thermal as part of a consultant team comprising AECOM, Dentons, and Ardent Management. The application was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate on 28 June 2021 and the DCO was made 18 months later.
It is the latest milestone achieved by the project and marks a major step forward for Keadby 3, which is currently in the due diligence stage of the UK Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process. This process will give the project the opportunity to receive government support, allowing it to deploy cutting edge carbon capture technology and to connect to the shared CO2 and hydrogen pipelines being developed as part of the Zero Carbon Humber and East Coast Cluster proposals.
Keadby 3 would have a generating capacity of up to 910MW and capture up to one and a half million tonnes of CO2 a year, which represents at least five per cent of the UK Government’s 2030 CCS target. The low-carbon flexible power station could be operational as early as 2027, assuming success in the UK Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process leading to a Final Investment Decision. The project is being brought forward by SSE Thermal and Equinor and earlier this year a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for the proposed plant was awarded to a consortium comprising Aker Solutions, Siemens Energy and Altrad Babcock, with Aker Carbon Capture supporting on the carbon capture technology.
SSE Thermal and Equinor are also collaborating on Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station in the north-east of Scotland for which DWD is providing the planning support. DWD previously led the consenting of the Keadby 2 CCGT project, currently at commissioning stage.
Colin Turnbull, Partner at DWD, said “we’re delighted to have supported this first of a kind project which will have huge benefits for the Humber region and the decarbonisation of electricity supply. We will continue to work closely with AECOM and the consultant team to support SSE Thermal in constructing Keadby 3 and connecting into the East Coast Cluster”.
For more information please contact Colin Turnbull.