£20million prize for innovations in Carbon Capture and Storage technology

14th March 2012

Below is a press release from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on the launch of its new Carbon Capture and Storage innovation competition.

“Energy secretary Edward Davey is launching a competition worth up to £20 million to fund the development of innovations in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.

Bids are being invited to develop better and cheaper CCS components and systems for pilot scale demonstration. These will support the development of CCS, which is crucial if the UK is to meet its climate change targets and reduce emissions.

The innovations could be incorporated into the UK supply chain and reduce the cost of future commercial CCS deployment in the UK, for an industry which is estimated to be worth as much as £6.5 billion a year by the late 2020s.

This £20 million competition will complement the £1 billion the UK has separately committed to funding commercial scale CCS projects, under DECC’s CCS Commercialisation programme. A competition for that programme will be launched in the coming weeks.

Edward Davey said:

“Carbon Capture and Storage will play a vital role in ensuring we develop a low carbon energy mix. We are helping to create a new industry in the UK and are well placed to become a world leader.

“The UK’s first carbon capture pilot, opened at Ferrybridge last year, is an early example of what CCS means in terms of jobs and growth. More than 20 UK based companies provided parts and services to the project.

“By supporting research and development, this £20 million competition is an important step towards making cost competitive CCS a reality by the 2020s.”

The £20 million announced today is part of a four year, £125 million Government-led CCS research and development programme. This cross-Government programme is delivered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Technology Strategy Board, the Energy Technologies Institute and the Research Councils.

Jeff Chapman, CEO of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, said:

“CCS has the potential to make massive reductions in our national CO2 emissions in a very cost-effective manner. This R&D funding is most welcome to help optimise the technology, save costs and put the UK into a strong competitive position in world markets.”

Philip Sharman, Chair of the UK’s Advanced Power Generation Technology Forum, said:

“This £20 million competition is another firm step forward for the UK CCS Industry. Innovation and developing new CCS technology is vital to keeping up the momentum to create a commercial CCS market by the 2020s. I’m sure that I speak for most of our APGTF members in saying that we welcome this announcement today and the Government’s commitment to work with us to get us there.”

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Notes

1. All documents for the £20M CCS Innovation competition can be found on the £20 million innovation competition web page. 

2. Briefing days for potential applicants to the £20M CCS innovation competition will be held on 26 March 2012 and 30 March 2012, in London. To register, please e-mail: ccs.innovation@decc.gsi.gov.uk.

3. DECC recently published a notice about the £1bn CCS Commercialisation programme in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting organisations to register an interest. Prime (or lead) contractors or consortium members are invited register, with one registration required per proposed bid/consortium (DECC does not have a preference as to which consortium member registers on behalf of a consortium). All registrations must be made by 13th April 2012. To register a bid, interested parties should email occs@decc.gsi.gov.uk. The £1bn competition will be launched shortly and is separate from the £20M CCS Innovation competition.

4. The cross-Government £125M CCS R&D and Innovation Programme covers the current spending period from financial year (FY) 2011/12 until FY2014/15. This investment will fund:

• Fundamental research at our world class universities, and develop greater understanding of CCS
• Development of better, cheaper components to reduce the cost of CCS
• Pilot-scale capture projects, to test these components and systems before they are incorporated into commercial-scale projects

5. The Government’s Low Carbon Innovation Co-ordination Group (LCICG) brings together major public-sector backed funders in the UK to work together to coordinate their activities and to maximise the impact of government investment. Its core members include DECC, BIS, the Carbon Trust, the Energy Technologies Institute, the Technology Strategy Board, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. Several other organisations, included the other Devolved Administrations, are represented as associate members.

6. Please see the following links for more information about our R&D £125M and innovation programme partners:

Technology Strategy Board
Energy Technologies Institute
Research Councils