ICE director general praises net zero projects in north-east Scotland

While visiting Aberdeenshire, ICE director general, Dr Janet Young, saw some of the work being done to help meet Scotland’s target of net zero emissions by 2045.

Dr Young toured Peterhead Power Station, the proposed Peterhead 2 and Aberdeen’s South Harbour expansion.

She visited Peterhead Power Station to learn about the existing site and continued her tour to Peterhead 2 - a proposed decarbonised power station using carbon capture and storage (CCS) or hydrogen solutions, linked to Project Acorn.

Earlier this month, the UK government stated that Project Acorn was “a leading contender” to receive a share of the £20bn funding earmarked for CCS projects.

The proposal involves piping waste CO2 from the existing refineries at Mossmoran, Granngemouth and the proposed power station at Peterhead, and storing greenhouse gas emissions in depleted gas reservoirs under the North Sea.

To do so, they’d be using redundant pipelines which previously carried natural gas south.

Dr Young also visited Aberdeen’s £400m South Harbour expansion, the largest marine infrastructure project in the UK in decades.

Evolution of power generation

Dr Young said the scale of these projects was impressive.

She said: “They highlight the role civil engineers and infrastructure plays in the transition to the UK and Scotland’s net zero future.

“Peterhead power station illustrates the evolution of power generation from oil to gas and now potentially carbon capture, and the new Aberdeen South Harbour expansion is a brilliant example of new infrastructure to cater for decommissioning, offshore wind and marine renewables.”