During a visit to SSE’s Peterhead Power Station in Scotland, First Minister Humza Yousaf urged the UK Government to give the green light to the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
This move is seen as crucial to Scotland‘s efforts to accelerate its transition to clean energy.
The Acorn project, based in Aberdeenshire, aims to capture carbon dioxide emissions from various industrial processes across the country and store them under the North Sea.
However, the project’s progress has been stalled. The First Minister expressed concern over the UK Government’s failure to provide a clear timetable for the next stages of the approval process, leading to ongoing delays that impact investor confidence.
Catherine Raw, Managing Director of SSE Thermal, part of the Scottish Cluster group of industrial companies backing the Acorn CCS project, emphasised the importance of bringing the Scottish Cluster forward urgently.
A UK Government spokesperson told ELN: “We are making the entire UK a world leader in carbon capture, backed by an unprecedented £20 billion, and are accelerating development of this vital technology as part of our greater efforts to increase energy security.
“Scotland can play a strong role in developing and expanding the use of CCUS and we have already allocated the Scottish cluster over £40 million in development funding in recent years.”
