SUEZ (Paris, France) and bp plc (London) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the feasibility of the U.K.’s first carbon capture and storage project from energy-from-waste. The Net Zero Teesside Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) project plans to capture up to 10 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the equivalent to the annual energy use of over 3 million UK homes.
The agreement paves the way for SUEZ to develop a solution to capture the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from one of four energy-from-waste facilities it operates in the Teesside area. Once captured, the CO₂ will be supplied to the bp led Net Zero Teesside CCUS project, to be transported and permanently stored in a geological storage site beneath the North Sea.
Over the past two decades, the UK waste sector has achieved a huge reduction in its emission profile, with greenhouse gas emissions down by 69% from 1990. With the final move of biodegradable waste away from landfill for England planned for 2030, there is renewed focus on increased recycling and waste prevention and on continuing to reduce the carbon footprint of managing residual waste.
The SUEZ Group will harness their combined expertise in energy-from-waste and CO₂ separation systems to develop a solvent based modular system to capture CO₂ from energy-from-waste flue gas emissions. The commercial scale demonstration carbon capture plant is planned to be developed at the company’s Tees Valley (Lines 1 and 2) facility at Haverton Hill on Teesside. The project is intended to remove 90% of fossil and biogenic CO₂ emissions from the energy-from-waste plant, leading to it becoming carbon negative.
The successful implementation of the project will enable the large-scale roll out of the carbon capture solution across SUEZ Group’s energy-from-waste plant portfolio and to other industrial emitters located within carbon capture, utilization and storage hubs worldwide. It marks a major step in the achievement of SUEZ Group’s 2030 sustainability commitments:
- Commitment 1. Reduce by 45% the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from our activities by 2030.
- Commitment 2. Help our customers avoid 20 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions a year by 2030.
- Commitment 3. Offer 100% sustainable solutions for our customers.
“We’re proud to be working with bp and Net Zero Teesside on this project that would be the first of its kind in the United-Kingdom. This Memorandum of Understanding illustrates the Group’s ability to implement a true collaborative innovation approach with our clients and to take concrete action contributing to reduce their carbon footprints. SUEZ is once again demonstrating its commitment to support its major industrial customers in their transformation strategy to face challenges of energy consumption and climate change. The Group has positioned waste-to-energy as one of the pillars of its development and continues to accelerate its strategic plan “Shaping SUEZ 2030” by demonstrating its expertise in this field” concluded Ana Giros, Executive Vice President of SUEZ in charge of the APAC (Asia, Australia and India) and AMECA (Africa, Middle East, Central Asia) Regions and Industrial Markets & Key Accounts.
“We look forward to working with SUEZ as it aims to achieve a world first with the scale-up of carbon capture technologies and application to an Energy from Waste facility. Capturing and storing these emissions will contribute to a net reduction in carbon without any negative environmental impact. The project aligns closely with the strategic objectives of bp, the NZT project and with the UK Government’s net zero commitment, and is another demonstration of our commitment to work with local industry to help them decarbonise”, said Andy Lane, Managing Director for Net Zero Teesside.