Recommendation 19

In the latter part of 2024, the Department successfully concluded negotiations with two of the Track 1 projects. In December 2024, the Department announced it had signed contracts with the first two projects at East Coast Cluster: Net Zero Teesside (a gas–fired power station with 58 C&AG’s Report, para 1.5 and Figure 2 59 C&AG’s Report, para 1.8 60 C&AG’s Report, para 1.7; HM Government, Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, October 2021, pages 21 and 28. 61 C&AG’s Report, para 2.15 62 C&AG’s Report, para 2.8 – 2.10 15 CCUS); and Northern Endurance Partnership (the transport and storage company for the East Coast Cluster).63 Shortly before our evidence session, the Department stated that it no longer considered its target of capturing 20–30 mtpa of CO2 for 2030 achievable.64 The Department told us it will set out its revised ambitions for the future of CCUS in its Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, due for publication in spring 2025.65 Challenging assumptions