Acorn carbon capture project funding to finally be announced in Rachel Reeves spending review
Details of funding for the Acorn project are set to be announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as part of Wednesday’s Spending Review.
Funding for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire is finally expected to be announced in the UK government's spending review.
The carbon capture 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 (CCS).
Last month UK energy minister Michael Shanks stressed his department was lobbying the Chancellor to sign off funding for the crucial project, which is now set to be announced in Wednesday’s spending review.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, ministers were asked several times about funding for the project. UK energy minister Sarah Jones told MPs they did not have long to wait long for more information.
She said: "We have always been clear that we support the Acorn project. 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".
The Acorn project, which would be based near Peterhead, has been in the pipeline for years and would allow fossil fuels to continue to be burnt without, in theory, releasing harmful carbon emissions.
The project is seen as key to scaling up the low-carbon hydrogen sector in Scotland and future plans for Grangemouth, but the technology has not yet been demonstrated at commercial scale.
With the project based in his the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency, local SNP Seamus Logan welcomed the announcement.
He said: “As the local MP for the Acorn project, I cautiously welcome this long-overdue commitment that funding and full details will finally be announced for Scottish carbon capture at the spending review tomorrow, after years of campaigning by the SNP and the Scottish energy sector. England has been allocated £22billion for carbon capture, so I would expect investment in Scotland to be at a commensurate level.
“After decades of broken promises, funding snubs and delays from Westminster - including over the past year - it is essential that adequate funding, full details and a concrete commitment to the project is now delivered by the UK government at pace - and the devil will be in the detail of the announcement, which we will study carefully.
“Scotland has repeatedly been treated as an afterthought by the Labour government, with money being ploughed into projects in the south of England instead, and thousands of Scottish energy jobs lost in the north east of Scotland as a result of Keir Starmer’s damaging policies. That must now change - and funding for Scottish carbon capture must mark the beginning of a substantial programme of investment in Scotland's energy sector to create jobs, lower energy bills and boost economic growth.”
Business leaders and organisations including the Scottish Chambers of Commerce had signed a letter in March urging the chancellor to back the project.
It 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, and Acorn was placed on a reserve list for future backing.
Ms Reeves will unveil the Spending Review on Wednesday, after Prime Minister’s Questions.
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