MP backs PM's commitment to Acorn project at St Fergus
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Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has said that comments made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have underlined his commitment to Scotland’s UK’s carbon capture and storage scheme led by the Acorn CCS and Hydrogen Project at St Fergus.
They come in opposition to comments made by fellow MP Richard Thomson, who said that the project was continually being sidelined.
In a response to Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Sunak said he recognised the benefits of the Scottish Cluster and that progress was being made on the ‘Track 2’ process with further details to come out in the near future.
The update signalled positive news for Aberdeenshire's Acorn project, which has been provided with more than 40 million in funding by the UK Government and is widely expected to be one of the schemes selected as part of the next cohort.
Storegga, in partnership with Shell UK, Harbour Energy and other investors, hope the project can be operational by 2027, creating around 21,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Linking carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen production in the north-east, Acorn is a critical component of the Scottish Cluster, a major infrastructure bid backed by the likes of Shell, ETZ Ltd, Wood, Storegga, SSE and Ineos.
Mr Duguid, who hosted a roundtable meeting in Westminster last year to outline the benefits of the Aberdeenshire plans, said: “I welcome the positive response from the Prime Minister who has underlined his commitment to the Acorn Project at St Fergus.
“Acorn will be vital to reducing emissions, along with increasing our reliance on clean, homegrown power, and the UK Government is determined to develop this promising sector which will bring investment and jobs to the north-east.
“A huge amount of work is being put in to ensure the project is a success despite the SNP wanting to give the impression that Acorn has ground to a halt when it absolutely hasn’t.
“These negative political point-scoring games from the likes of Michael Matheson may potentially put the project at risk and could discourage private investors from committing to this exciting and world-leading initiative.
“I have continued to engage with government and project officials to make sure the plans happen at the soonest opportunity.
“Acorn has an enviable status as the reserve cluster for Track 1 and, as the Prime Minster confirmed, Acorn is rightly in contention for ‘Track 2’ status which is why it is fundamentally wrong for the SNP to talk down the project.”
Rishi Sunak said: “My honourable friend is a fantastic champion for Scotland in this house and a tireless campaigner for this project.
“We will invest up to £1 billion to establish carbon capture and storage in fur industrial clusters by 2030.
“We recognised the potential benefits of the Scottish Cluster and the role it could play in industrial decarbonisation in Scotland.
“And we are progressing the Track 2 process and we will set out further details in due course.”
