Acorn Project carbon capture funding to be announced in spending review

Funding for a carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire is expected to be announced in the UK government’s spending review, BBC Scotland News understands.

The Acorn Project based in St Fergus would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them under the North Sea, in a process known as carbon capture and storage.

There have been growing calls from business leaders for investment in the project which has been on a reserve list for funding.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce the budgets for all government departments over the next few years on Wednesday, which will include information on what new projects will receive investment.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, ministers were asked a number of times about funding for the project.

Energy Minister Sarah Jones told MPs they didn’t have long to wait to see what the spending review had to say about the project.

She said: “We have always been clear that we support the Acorn Project” adding “we know what an important proposal it is.

“The decision is a matter for a spending review but we are very close to having those decisions”.

In March, business leaders including oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood and organisations such as the Scottish Chambers of Commerce signed a letter urging the chancellor to back the project.

The letter argued that the project had faced two decades of setbacks, and that it is needed to help Scottish industry decarbonise.

The project missed out on support in 2021, when funding instead went to two areas in the north of England, and Acorn was placed on a reserve list for future backing.

The UK government said Acorn had already received more than £40m for its development.

If it is given the go-ahead, waste CO2 will be piped from central Scotland to St Fergus using redundant pipelines which previously carried natural gas south.

Experts say the technology is vital for Scotland to meet its climate targets.

Sites which are signed up include the refineries at Mossmoran and Grangemouth as well as a new power station at Peterhead.