ABP and Sizewell C plan to develop Direct Air Capture facility at Port of Lowestoft
Associated British Ports (ABP) and Sizewell C are developing plans to locate a unique Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility at ABP’s Port of Lowestoft, which would be capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Direct Air Capture technology that uses chemical reactions to extract carbon dioxide from the air, which can then be stored. This could become a key technology for reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change.
The project at Lowestoft is designed to demonstrate a more efficient and innovative DAC process, which would be powered principally by heat.
ABP and Sizewell C have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to finalise the commercial arrangements to lease a site at the Port of Lowestoft, and the planning permission to build the facility will be sought shortly.
If the demonstrator project is successful, a permanent full-scale DAC unit could then use heat generated from Sizewell C to extract CO2 from the air. The full-scale DAC facility would be located at a separate location to the power station, with the heat transported through underground pipes. Such facility could potentially capture 1.5m tonnes of CO2 each year. That is enough to almost offset the UK’s total emissions from railway transport.
The plans follow the UK Government’s decision to award £3m to Sizewell C and its partners (Birmingham University, Nottingham University, Helical, Atkins and Altrad Babcock) in 2022 as part of the Greenhouse Gas Removals competition, to develop this novel heat-assisted DAC technology.
All the engineering, design, construction and testing activities for the demonstrator unit will be carried out in the UK.
