An ambitious multi-billion-pound plan for a carbon storage cluster will create thousands of jobs in Cumbria, its developers said.
Spirit Energy, the joint venture energy company of Centrica plc and Stadtwerke München GmbH, wants to convert Barrow Terminals and its depleted South Morecambe and North Morecambe gas fields into a world-class carbon storage cluster.
The proposal – subject to licence and regulatory approval – would see it become one of the UK’s biggest carbon storage and hydrogen production clusters.
Spirit Energy said it had the potential to create thousands of highly skilled green jobs and boost the South Cumbrian economy.
It said its current projections say the project has the capacity to store up to one gigaton of CO₂ – which equates to roughly three years’ worth of UK CO₂ current emissions. This will enable emitters within carbon-intensive industries, including the North West, South Wales, and the Solent, to store their carbon emissions for the long-term.
Due to the site’s location near the Port of Barrow, the project would be able to accept CO₂ transported by ship, which Spirit Energy said, meant industrial sites with no direct connection to a CO₂ pipeline could access a feasible solution to deal with their carbon emissions, remain profitable and meet climate change goals.
Simon Fell, MP for Barrow and Furness, said: “It is great to see a project of this scale come to Barrow and I look forward to seeing it develop. This new cluster will put Barrow on the map as a centre for low-carbon innovation, bringing thousands of high-quality jobs to our town and across the whole of Cumbria, while also securing future employment for those already working on the gas fields.”
Jo Lappin, chief executive of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Major businesses like Spirit Energy are backing Cumbria and channelling billions into our local economy.
“This new cluster will bring immense benefits to Cumbria – not only does it promise to create thousands of local jobs, it also has the potential to attract further international investment as the carbon storage cluster develops.
“I look forward to working with the Spirit and Centrica teams to continue to maximise the project benefits for people all over Cumbria.”
Spirit Energy will continue to maximise the use of the gas fields until they are fully depleted to ensure continuity of domestic energy supply, it said. Work on carbon storage will take place in tandem with gas production until the facility is predicted to cease production in the second half of the decade, it said.
