Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
8th Report - Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage
Published 7 Feb 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department referred us to recent work from National Energy System Operator [NESO] on decarbonising the power system.53 It told us that NESO’s report, which concluded that CCUS was one of two pathways to a low–cost energy system, highlighted that the lowest cost system will include the use of dispatchable low–carbon power generation such as power CCUS.54 CCUS did not feature in the other pathway.55 The Department told us that NESO’s analysis showed that low carbon dispatchable power, such as power CCUS, could lead to lower cost for the power sector than a system just based on renewables.56 But NESO’s report also concluded that CCUS–enabled gas would require more upfront financial support.57 49 C&AG’s Report, para 14 50 Q 21 51 C&AG’s Report, para 3.16 52 Q 58 53 Q 21 54 Q 21 55 Q 21 56 Q 43 57 National Energy System Operator, Clean Power 2030: Advice on achieving clean power for Great Britain by 2030, November 2024. 14 2 Adapting the programme over time Downgrading ambitions
From: Public Accounts Committee, 8th Report - Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (HC 351), 7 February 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighth report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations across the areas covered, while saying that for annual reappraisal of value for money its process is "ongoing, dictated by the project pipeline, rather than a fixed annual schedule".
- On annual reappraisal of value for money, the government says it agrees with the recommendation but reviews the approach "primarily" via the Business Case process, ahead of final investment decisions, and not on a fixed annual schedule.
- The government acknowledges that the 2030 ambition of capturing and storing 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per year "is no longer achievable", and will publish a report setting out its plan to meet carbon budgets, with a target implementation date of Spring 2025.
- On BECCS, biomass sustainability criteria "will be developed" for any future support, and the department "plans to consult later this year" on a common biomass sustainability framework. Target implementation date: Summer 2025.
- On sharing financial benefits, the government notes the business models already have mechanisms, such as a "gainshare" mechanism in the Net Zero Teesside agreement, and will "continue to evolve" them. Target implementation date: December 2026.