UK carbon capture specialist Storegga jointly with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to advance the commercialisation of direct air capture (DAC) technology.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on March 25th will also support development of the UK’s first DAC facility in North East Scotland which aims to extract one million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere each year.
Once operational, the facility will contribute to the UK Government’s ambition to deploy at least 5 million tonnes per year of engineered carbon removals by 2030 helping both the UK and Scotland meet net zero targets.
High global energy prices – compounded by the Russia-Ukraine conflict – have caused concerns over the dependence of countries on fuels sourced from overseas.
Stating that this has highlighted the need for enhanced self-reliance, Nick Cooper, CEO, Storegga, affirmed, “Taking a leading position on DAC gives us the opportunity to develop our own decarbonisation industry, creating jobs along the supply chain and sharing these skills and knowledge with the world.”
“We look forward to working with the UK Government on a favourable regulatory regime that sets us up for future success.”
Following capture, the CO2 will be transported to the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for permanent underground storage in depleted North Sea oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers.
In addition to Mitsui sharing its own technical knowledge and exploring opportunities to partner business around the world, the partners will also explore the possibility for Mitsui to coinvest in and offtake credits from the project.
Commenting on the agreement, Toru Matsui, COO, Energy Business Unit 1, Energy Solutions Business Unit, Mitsui, said, “Since our initial investment in March 021, we have been closely supporting Storegga to grow its business with our expertise in the upstream energy sector and our extensive global network.”