Perenco confirmed on Thursday that it had secured two further carbon storage licences, building on the permit it announced earlier this week.
This latest licence will allow the oil and gas operator, as well as its partner Carbon Catalyst Ltd (CCL), to progress the Orion carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
It follows the culmination of the North Sea Transition Authority’s (NSTA) inaugural carbon storage permitting round.
Thirteen areas were offered off the coast of Aberdeen, Teesside, Liverpool and Lincolnshire in the southern North Sea, central North Sea, northern North Sea, and East Irish Sea as part of the process, which kicked off last summer.
Orion is designed to deliver an initial injection capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), rising to 6Mtpa, and commence injection in 2031.
The full project encompasses both the decommissioned Amethyst field and the currently producing West Sole field, both located in the Southern North Sea.
Depleted gas reservoirs will be utilised for the permanent storage within geological formations of captured carbon dioxide.
Perenco owns and operates significant gas infrastructure in the Humberside area, including its Dimlington Terminal.
It plans to evaluate the possibility to reuse existing assets, such as strategic pipelines, to facilitate the project.
According to the partners, Orion has the potential to complement other CCS projects currently in development, providing additional capacity for the decarbonisation of Humberside over a 30-year period.
It follows news on Monday that Perenco had won a single permit to progress the Poseidon scheme, based at the Leman fields.
It is due to come online by 2029 with initial CO2 injection rates of circa 1.5Mtpa, ramping up to 40Mtpa.
The award of the Poseidon and Orion CCS licenses in the UK, with Perenco as operator, formalises the start of a new strategic division within the Perenco Group.
Based in its London head office, the new Perenco CCS Department is building a team to assess and deliver opportunities for carbon storage projects in the UK North Sea.
Jo White, General Manager Perenco UK, said: “Following the recent announcement of the Poseidon Project, today’s news is another important step in our CCS strategy and our ambition to use our extensive technical expertise in the gas industry in support of the UK’s decarbonisation goals.”
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