Sir Ian Wood, Chairman of ETZ Ltd, said: “We remain very disappointed at the decision of the UK Government not to approve the Scottish Cluster as part of the CCS track 1 programme. The letter today highlights a range of crucial areas that we believe were not considered as part of the evaluation process when the cluster ‘competition’ was launched but are now in scope. The prioritisation of shipping, proximity of the Scottish cluster to hydrogen generation and the huge capability of Direct Air Capture all significantly enhance the Acorn bid.
“We urge the UK Government to consider these issues carefully and add a third bid, the Scottish Cluster, to its Track 1 programme. Such a decision would be warmly welcomed by the Scottish business community and provide much needed acceleration to the UK’s Carbon capture programme and meeting net zero targets.
“The two successful bids are of high quality and will contribute significantly to this aim but to be serious about urgent decarbonisation, we must go faster and further. A third active cluster in the UK will contribute significantly to economic growth, net zero, job creation and export of products, services and expertise to other evolving industrial clusters around the world.”
The letter below sent to the Prime Minister, co-signed by a range of Scotland’s business leaders, urging the UK Government to add the Scottish Cluster as part of the Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) track 1 programme. This follows Government’s decision last week to allocate the Acorn Project as a ‘reserve’ bid.
Letter to Prime Minster re Scottish Cluster