UK court rejects appeal against Net-Zero gas-fired power plant

London’s High Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit claiming a carbon-capture gas-fired power station was illegally approved by the government.

Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) is a joint venture between the UK’s international oil majors and Equinor and could generate up to 860 megawatts (MW) of flexible, low-carbon energy equivalent to average energy needs around 1.3 million UK homes. . The project is planned to be the first fully integrated carbon capture and gas power project and a key driving force behind plans to make Teesside the UK’s first decarbonised industrial cluster, the companies said.

Approval of the plant has been challenged by climate activist Andrew Boswell, who has campaigned against the “bogus Net Zero project”.

“I bring this challenge to the £4 billion Net Zero Teesside Power (NZTP) joint venture from fossil giants BP and Equinor because my forensic examination of carbon footprint calculations shows that this power station and others like it they are not planned. consistent with the UK meeting its carbon budgets and international climate obligations,” Boswell said.

According to the campaigner, the legal case “also raises issues about carbon cheating in the UK government’s Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) program and subsequent developments such as blue hydrogen and increased LNG imports that based”.

After hearing the case, Judge Nathalie Lieven of the High Court in London dismissed the case and wrote in Wednesday’s ruling that “The development has been strongly supported in national policy, both in planning and energy policy.”

BP, one of the project’s partners, welcomed the court’s decision, and a spokesman said in a statement, reported by Reuters,

“This project will help the UK government achieve its net zero targets by capturing CO2 emissions, while helping to maintain energy security by providing low carbon electricity that can be dispatched to support sources renewable.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More top reads from Oilprice.com