LONDON – Britain’s government aims to develop a map of the UK North Sea’s subsurface geology in terms of the potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Companies already working on CCS technology and licensed to drill in the region will be obliged to report their findings to the regulator.
The government would then aim to use this information by quantifying for investors the potential in certain areas for CCS, with a view to supporting up to 50,000 related jobs by 2030.
It plans to delegate these new powers to the UK North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in an amendment to the Energy Bill, introduced last July, which has just had its Second Reading in the UK’s House of Commons.
The NSTA, as carbon storage regulator, would have powers to obtain information and samples from companies that already have a license to store carbon.
These would provide information on the geological features of subsurface spaces beneath the North Sea.
