At the end of September, NECCUS – the lead partner of the Scottish Net-Zero Infrastructure Project (SNZR) – will launch a project website to keep wider stakeholders informed on the project’s progress (snzr.co.uk). The SNZR Project aims to develop a successful roadmap on how Scottish industries can achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible. The roadmap covers progress from 2020 all the way to 2050 and unites industry, government and experts to drive the changes needed to reduce carbon emissions. 

The newly launched website will be used for multi-cluster knowledge sharing and as an engagement tool to keep the public and stakeholders informed of any new information, changes or progress made to the SNZR Project. This platform will also help to show the rest of the UK, Europe and further afield our learnings and experiences on our journey towards net-zero.

The roadmap will consider multiple carbon reducing options such as electrification, the integration of renewable energy, fuel switching to clean sources (such as hydrogen), capture of carbon emissions from industrial processes, and negative emissions opportunities (such as capturing carbon from biogenic energy sources). The project will create an energy system model covering key industrial sites along the Scottish East Coast, from Lothian in the South to Aberdeenshire in the North.

In total, 28 industrial sites have been identified which collectively emit around 9.5 Mt CO2 p.a.* (or 80% of all the industrial emissions in Scotland). It is therefore anticipated that any net zero solutions developed here can provide infrastructure and blueprints for the whole of Scotland.

The project is approximately 9 months into a 24-month program and expects to be delivering initial results in the first half of 2022. It is expected that the Roadmap will be an important step towards Scotland’s transition to Net Zero by 2045 and was recognized as such by the Scottish Government in their annual program for government and their response to the Just Transition Commission findings** earlier this month.

The SNZR project partners are: Aker Solutions, Costain, Doosan Babcock, Energy System Catapult, Halliburton, Optimat, the Net Zero Technology Centre, Pale Blue Dot, University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, and Wood Plc. Financial support for the project is principally from UKRI InnovateUK with match funding from: Cairn Energy, Crown Estate Scotland, Harbour Energy, PetroIneos, SGN, Shell, and SSE Thermal.

Some words from our incoming CEO Ronnie Quinn about the SNZR:

“Through the Roadmap project we aim to identify future actions Scotland can take to accelerate the green recovery, including identifying opportunities for inward investment and how to take advantage of low carbon infrastructure to provide a service for the rest of the UK and Europe.

The website will very quickly become a repository of knowledge and detail which can only help this acceleration towards decarbonising out economy.”

*SEPA data from 2019 shows 28 industrial sites along the East Coast of Scotland are responsible for approx. 9.5Mt/CO2 each year.

** Just Transition – A fairer, greener Scotland: Scottish Government response https://www.gov.scot/publications/transition-fairer-greener-scotland/