BP has joined with Harbour Energy to develop Viking CCS, a project to transport carbon dioxide captured from industries in the Humber region to an offshore site and inject it into
BP is acquiring a 40 per cent non-operated share in the project, while Harbour continues as operator with a 60 per cent interest.
The partners say Viking CCS has the potential to meet one third of the UK Government’s target to capture and store up to 30 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030. The partnership follows the UK Government’s recent decision to launch Track 2 of its CCS cluster sequencing process, in which Viking CCS is one of two leading transport and storage system contenders. The depleted Viking gas fields are thought to be able to store 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The partners say part of the infrastructure that will be used for transportation is already in place. A legacy Harbour Energy company developed and operated a high-capacity offshore pipeline to transport extracted natural gas from the Viking gas fields to the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal, which will be reused to transporting carbon dioxide offshore. Two new pipelines will be required: offshore, a new spur line will carry the gas for the final 20km of its journey to storage deep underground; onshore a new 55km buried pipeline, currently in the development consent process, will bring gas from the Immingham industrial cluster to the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal.
Subject to the outcome of the Track 2 Cluster Sequencing Process, a final investment decision is expected in 2024. BP and Harbour say the project could be operational in 2027 and potentially storing up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030.

Viking CCS also has access to a planned new CO2 shipping terminal at Associated British Ports’ Port of Immingham, with the potential for shipped CO2 from dispersed emitters elsewhere in the UK and internationally to be transported for permanent storage within the Viking fields.

Linda Z Cook, chief executive of Harbour Energy, said: “We welcome the UK government’s recent announcement about the launch of Track 2 and the addition of bp as a partner to this transformational project. Viking CCS has the potential to unlock billions of pounds of investment across the full CCS value chain and is crucial for the UK to meet its emissions reduction targets.”

Anja Dotzenrath, Executive Vice President of Gas and Low Carbon Energy bp, said: “We’re extremely excited to be joining Viking CCS, a project which can play an instrumental role in helping to decarbonise the UK and providing CO2 transport and storage as a service to emitters across industry sectors and geographies, including as a future CO2 shipping destination.”