- Nine specialist contractors have been selected for eight contract packages.
- NZT Power aims to create one of the first large-scale gas-fired power stations with carbon capture.
- NEP aims to develop the CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure for East Coast Cluster carbon capture projects.
- The final contract award is dependent on receiving regulatory clearances and making final investment decisions (FID) by September 2024 or earlier.
Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) and the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) have selected contractors for engineering, procurement, and construction contracts worth approximately £4 billion.
The selection of nine leading specialist contractors across eight contract packages is a major milestone for the Teesside-based projects, which would contribute to the UK's efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The final award of contracts is subject to the receipt of relevant regulatory clearances and positive Final Investment Decisions (FID) by the projects and UK government, planned for September 2024 or earlier. After FID, the projects aim to start commercial operations by 2027.
The announced contractors are:
- Onshore Power, Capture and Compression – Technip Energies and GE Vernova consortium including Balfour Beatty as the construction partner and Shell as the technology licensor
- Onshore CO2 gathering system and gas connection – Costain
- Linepipe – Onshore and Offshore – Marubeni-Itochu Tubulars Europe Plc with Liberty Steel Hartlepool, Corinth Pipeworks and Eisenbau Kramer GmbH as the nominated pipe-mills
- Offshore Pipeline, Landfalls, Onshore Outlet Facilities and Water Outfall – Saipem
- Offshore Subsea Injection System – TechnipFMC
- Power and Communications Cable – Alcatel Submarine Networks
- Offshore Systems Engineering – Genesis
- Integrated Project Management Team – Wood
The projects represent a significant opportunity for the UK supply chain. The selected contractors will continue working with the local and regional supply chain, with further engagement taking place over the coming weeks and months.
NZT Power, a joint venture between bp and Equinor, could generate up to 860 megawatts of flexible, dispatchable low-carbon power equivalent to the average electricity requirements of around 1.3 million UK homes. The plant could capture up to 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year, which would then be transported and securely stored by the NEP in subsea storage sites beneath the North Sea. NZT Power could create and support more than 3,000 construction jobs and then require around 1,000 jobs annually during operations until 2050.
NEP, a joint venture between bp, Equinor, and TotalEnergies, is the CO2 transportation and storage provider for the East Coast Cluster (ECC). The Teesside onshore NEP infrastructure would serve the Teesside-based carbon capture projects – NZT Power, H2Teesside and Teesside Hydrogen CO2 Capture – that were selected for first connection to the ECC by DESNZ in March 2023 as part of the UK's cluster sequencing process for carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS). It is anticipated that around 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year from these projects would be transported and stored from 2027.
Ian Hunter, Managing Director of Net Zero Teesside Power, said: “Choosing contractors is a significant advancement for Net Zero Teesside Power. We have picked top-notch partners who have the necessary experience and ability to deliver. We plan to make the final investment decision in September 2024 or earlier, and then we would be eager to collaborate with our EPC partners during the construction phase.”.
Chris Daykin, General Manager of Northern Endurance Partnership, said: “Choosing contractors is a clear indication of progress within the East Coast Cluster. The CO2 pipelines of the Northern Endurance Partnership are crucial for connecting carbon-intensive projects to offshore storage and would play a vital role in helping the region achieve its net zero plan.”.
Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, said: “This will be the largest investment in Teesside since ICI. The transformative economic impact of this cannot be underestimated across Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool. Our area is now leading the world in developing the clean, green industries of the future, which will importantly provide the highly-skilled well-paid jobs of the future. This £4bn investment will support local businesses throughout the supply chain, with companies like Hartlepool-based Liberty Steel already securing a multi-million pound contract. I will continue to work to ensure that local British firms benefit from this huge investment as this groundbreaking project progresses towards the final investment decision in September of this year.”.
