Nevertheless, the two companies have found a way to progress both the offshore wind and the CCS project through a commercial agreement.
“Orsted and bp confirm that a commercial agreement has been reached. On this basis, Orsted and bp agree that there are no requirements for protective provisions under the Hornsea Four DCO for the benefit of bp or any other party involved in the NEP Project. bp has no remaining objection to the Hornsea Four DCO application and agrees to withdraw any and all prior representations made in relation to the Hornsea Four DCO application”, BP and Ørsted stated in a letter sent to the Secretary of State .
The companies have not disclosed details of the commercial agreement and the resolution to the abovementioned matter so far.
Responding to offshoreWIND.biz ‘s inquiry about the agreement and a request for a statement, a spokesperson for Ørsted said: “We have worked constructively with bp, The Crown Estate and other stakeholders for over two years to find a pragmatic solution that will secure the future of both projects. Now that an agreement has been reached, we await the determination from the Secretary of State on planning consent which is expected on July 12th”.
“This bespoke way forward is good news for both projects, however it remains clear that a long-term solution to co-location needs to be found in order to safeguard future offshore projects. The UK government has sent a clear message on the importance of offshore wind in the UK’s transition to green energy. If we are to meet the UKs ambitions for 2030 and beyond, it’s vital that offshore wind projects are deployed sensitively, sustainably and without delay”.
The 2.6 GW Hornsea Four offshore wind farm is planned to be built 69 kilometres off the Yorkshire Coast at its closest point. The site covers an area of up to 468 square kilometres where up to 180 wind turbines could be installed.
If the Hornsea Four DCO is granted, Ørsted will move to the detailed design stage and work up an indicative layout of the offshore wind farm by the end of 2024, according to a document filed by Pinsent Masons on behalf of the developer.
As for the NEP project, the Endurance Store offshore carbon storage site has the capacity to store 450 million tonnes of CO 2 through which the Northern Endurance Partnership plans to enable Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and the East Coast Cluster projects by providing the common infrastructure needed to transport CO 2 from emitters in the Humber and Teesside to secure offshore storage in the North Sea.
In October 2021, NEP’s East Coast Cluster, which includes the NZT project, was selected as a priority cluster in Phase 1 of the UK government’s Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process, the consortium writes on its website.
The NZT project is currently also undergoing the Secretary of State’s examination for a DCO, with the deadline for making a decision recently pushed back from May to September this year.
The NEP consortium was established in 2020 by BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies and National Grid. Earlier this year, however, Shell withdrew from the NEP project with an aim to focus on the Acorn CCS project in Scotland, according to Reuters , which reported in April that National Grid had also exited the partnership.