Energy giants bp, Eni, Equinor, National Grid, Shell and Total announced today the formation of Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), aimed at developing offshore carbon dioxide ‎‎(CO2) transport and storage infrastructure in the UK North Sea. The NEP infrastructure, to be operated by bp, will serve the proposed Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) ‎projects.

Net Zero Teesside is a Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) project, based in Teesside in ‎the North East of England. Zero Carbon Humber is a consortium of leading energy and industrial companies with a shared vision to transform the Humber region into the UK’s first net-zero carbon cluster by 2040. Together, the decarbonization projects are intended to kick start decarbonization of industry and ‎power in two of the UK’s largest industrial clusters.

According to the partners, NEP linked to NZT and ZCH will allow decarbonization of ‎nearly 50% of the UK’s industrial emissions.‎

Andy Lane, Vice President of CCUS Solutions at bp and Managing Director for Net Zero Teesside, said: ‎

‎“The formation of the Northern Endurance Partnership is another significant milestone towards ‎developing the offshore infrastructure that will be needed to safely transport and store CO2 from ‎CCUS projects along England’s east coast. The partnership and our joint bid demonstrate industry’s ‎willingness to come together and collaborate wherever possible to accelerate making CCUS a reality ‎in the UK, helping to decarbonize the local economy and contributing to the UK’s climate goals.”

The partners stated that NEP has submitted a bid for funding through Phase 2 of the UK government’s £170 million Industrial ‎Decarbonisation Challenge, which is part of the broader £4.7 billion Industrial Strategy ‎Challenge Fund set up by the government to address the biggest industrial and societal challenges ‎using research and development based in the UK. According to NEP, the application is an important step ‎towards enabling the development of integrated offshore carbon storage for NZT and ZCH in the UK ‎Southern North Sea.‎

Grete Tveit, Senior Vice President for low carbon solutions at Equinor, said:

“Carbon capture and ‎storage is a crucial technology for reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and we are committed ‎to working with others to create real change. We believe that with our partners in the Humber, ‎Teesside and the Northern Endurance Partnership we can deliver deep decarbonization of these ‎major UK industrial clusters using CCUS and hydrogen, safeguarding jobs and helping develop world-‎leading low carbon expertise that can play a leading role in the UK’s journey to net zero by 2050.”‎

Martin Cook, Senior Vice President for Business Development for National Grid Ventures , said: ‎

‎“National Grid sits at the heart of the UK’s energy system and we want to contribute to the economic ‎recovery through investing in solutions to support a net zero future. The Northern Endurance ‎Partnership will channel the extensive experience of its members to develop and deliver the offshore ‎transport and storage infrastructure we need to unlock the enormous benefits of deploying CCUS ‎across the Humber and Teesside. We’re delighted to start working together with five really world ‎class energy companies to deliver a solution that will play a critical role in decarbonizing the UK’s ‎largest industrial heartland and protecting tens of thousands of jobs in the process.”‎