Longannet carbon capture scheme scrapped

Plans for the UK's first carbon capture project at the Longannet power station in Fife have been scrapped, the energy secretary has confirmed. Chris Huhne announced the failure to seal a deal to capture carbon dioxide emissions at the coal-fired plant and pipe them under the North Sea. Mr Huhne blamed problems with the length of pipeline needed. But he said the government hoped other schemes could work, indicating interest at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. Scottish Power's plant at Longannet had been the only remaining site in the UK government competition for funding worth up to £1bn to develop the technology. In the Commons, Mr Huhne said: "Despite all parties working extremely hard on the first carbon capture and demonstration project at Longannet, we have not been able to reach a satisfactory deal as the prime minister pointed out and we will therefore not be proceeding with the project and this decision is purely about the viability of this particular project. "It's not in any way a reflection on our commitment to the CCS (Carbon capture and storage) programme." Longannet, which is the UK's second largest coal-fired power station and Europe's third largest, is among the biggest polluters in the country. It produces energy for two million people and emits between seven million and eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. The carbon capture scheme hoped to pump emissions from Longannet into storage in rocks under the North Sea. The energy secretary told MPs the length of pipeline needed to take the liquified emissions to the undersea reservoirs made the scheme unviable. He said studies into carbon capture would be published and that the government was "absolutely confident" future projects would go ahead. Mr Huhne said interest has still been expressed by Peterhead and he was confident a carbon capture scheme could be brought online for £1bn. 'Vital technology' A year ago, the Longannet project became the only entrant in a CCS competition run by the UK government for £1bn of funding, after energy giant E.On dropped plans for a plant at its proposed Kingsnorth power station in Kent. In June, Scottish Power and its partners National Grid and Shell UK announced plans to create an onshore pipeline carrying up to two million tonnes of CO2 as part of the CCS scheme to pump emissions from Longannet to the North Sea. Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed the problems in the Commons earlier on Wednesday. Mr Cameron was responding to a question from Labour's energy spokesman Tom Greatrex, urging the UK government to save the project. Responding to Mr Greatrex during Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron said: "The funding that we set aside for carbon capture and storage is still there, that funding will be made available. "Clearly the Longannet scheme isn't working in the way they intended but the money from the government, the support from the government, for this vital technology, is there."