On behalf of its partners, bp – the operator of Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) and ‎the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) – has awarded contracts as part of its dual Front ‎End Engineering Design (FEED) competition to two separate consortiums of engineering, ‎carbon capture licensors, power providers and EPC contractors.‎

 

The awards represent an important next step towards the proposed development of the UK’s ‎first full-scale integrated power and carbon capture project. Investing in carbon capture, usage ‎and storage (CCUS) is a key point of the UK government’s 10-point plan for a green industrial ‎revolution, announced in November 2020.

 

In October 2021, the UK government selected the Northern Endurance Partnership’s East ‎Coast Cluster as one of the first two clusters be taken forward as part of its carbon capture ‎and storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process. The Northern Endurance partnership, which ‎bp leads as operator, will provide the common infrastructure needed to transport CO2 from ‎emitters across the Humber and Teesside to secure offshore storage in the Endurance aquifer ‎in the Southern North Sea.‎

 

The two groups will now design and submit development plans for NZT Power’s proposed ‎power station and carbon capture plant, and NEP’s planned Teesside high pressure carbon ‎dioxide (CO2) compression and export facilities.‎

 

The two selected contractor groups are:

- Technip Energies and General Electric consortium: led by Technip Energies and ‎including Shell as a subcontractor for the provision of the licensed Cansolv CO2 capture ‎technology and Balfour Beatty as the nominated construction partner.‎

- Aker Solutions Doosan Babcock and Siemens Energy consortium: led by Aker Solutions ‎and including Aker Carbon Capture as a subcontractor for the provision of the licensed ‎CO2 capture technology.‎

 

The two consortiums will each deliver a comprehensive FEED package, led from their UK ‎offices, over the next 12 months. Following the completion of the FEED process, the two ‎consortiums will then submit Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) proposals for ‎the execution phase. As part of the Final Investment Decision expected in 2023, a single ‎consortium will be selected to take the project forward into construction.

 

Louise Kingham, bp’s UK head of country and senior vice president of Europe, said: “Moving ‎to Front End Engineering Design is a major step forward for Net Zero Teesside Power and the ‎development of the Northern Endurance Partnership. This first-of-a-kind project has the ‎potential to deliver enough low carbon, flexible electricity to power around 1.3 million homes, ‎and can help secure Teesside’s position at the green heart of the country’s energy transition.”

 

Andy Lane, MD Northern Endurance Partnership, said: “The Northern Endurance Partnership ‎will play a key role in the UK’s journey to net zero, by providing the transportation and storage ‎infrastructure which enables the decarbonization of a range of industries across Teesside and ‎the Humber too.‎

 

“Today’s news is a clear signal of momentum within the East Coast Cluster following our ‎selection in October as one of the UK’s first two carbon capture and storage clusters by the ‎UK government.”‎

 

NZT Power, a joint venture between bp and Equinor, is a full-scale gas fired-power station fully ‎integrated with carbon capture. The project is expected to provide flexible, dispatchable low ‎carbon electricity to complement the growing deployment of intermittent forms of renewable ‎energy such as wind and solar.

 

The contracts also include FEED for NEP’s Teesside facilities that will gather and compress ‎CO2 from NZT Power and other regional sources and export it offshore for permanent sub-‎surface storage in the Endurance carbon store. NEP will also take CO2 captured from a range ‎of projects in the Humber region as part of the East Coast Cluster. The Northern Endurance ‎Partnership is a joint venture between bp, Equinor, National Grid Ventures, Shell and ‎TotalEnergies.

 

Taking emissions from both the Teesside and Humber regions, the East Coast Cluster has the ‎potential to transport and securely store nearly 50% of all UK industrial cluster CO2 emissions ‎‎– up to 27 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year by 2035. It anticipates creating and ‎supporting an average of 25,000 jobs over 2023 to 2050, with approximately 41,000 jobs at ‎the project’s peak in 2026.

 

NZT Power expects to submit a bid in January 2022 for selection as part of the phase-2 of the ‎UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process. In ‎October, the Northern Endurance Partnership-led East Coast Cluster was named as a Track-1 ‎cluster in the first phase of the sequencing process.

 

Jacob Young, Conservative MP for Redcar, said: ‎“Net Zero Teesside represents another ‎trailblazing innovation of the kind that is putting Teesside at the very centre of the UK‎’s‎ net ‎zero ambitions.

 

‎“Once completed, the Net Zero Teesside project will provide low carbon electricity to over ‎‎1 million homes using carbon capture technology to help meet the demands of the UK ‎government’s 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

 

‎“Having consortiums of such prestige working towards the designs which will make these ‎innovations a reality is a hugely important step and I am delighted to see the progress that ‎continues at pace with this project, delivering new, clean, green jobs for Teessiders.”‎

 

Ewan Drummond, bp’s senior vice president, projects, said: “The signing of the dual FEED ‎contracts today is the culmination of an extensive market engagement process over the ‎past 18 months, and we are excited to be working with the selected Aker and Technip UK-‎led consortiums. Our contracting strategy enables early selection of carbon capture ‎licensors and power providers along with EPC and construction contractors to minimize the ‎technology and execution risks whilst allowing each consortium to differentiate ‎themselves in their designs and execution approaches.”‎

 

Arnaud Pieton, CEO of Technip Energies, commented: “We are honoured to have been ‎selected, along with GE Gas Power, our consortium partner, to work on Net Zero Teesside ‎Power, a flagship carbon capture project in the UK energy sector. Led by Technip Energies, ‎the consortium will be supported by Shell Catalysts & Technologies, provider of the licensed ‎Cansolv CO2 capture technology, and Balfour Beatty, our UK construction partner. Our ‎capabilities in carbon capture projects and technology integration, combined with GE Gas ‎Power’s expertise in natural gas combined cycle plant engineering, operability, and plant ‎integration, will support bp’s goal of developing one of the first decarbonized industrial ‎clusters in the world. This project perfectly illustrates that cross-industries collaboration is ‎central to reaching net zero targets.”‎

 

Aker Solutions’ CEO Kjetel Digre said: “Net Zero Teesside is a landmark development for the ‎UK and an important step on the journey to net zero. Our consortium of Aker Solutions, ‎Siemens Energy and Doosan Babcock is exceptionally proud to be working together with bp ‎on this ground-breaking project to support the energy transition.”