US clean energy innovation firm 8 Rivers Capital, acting through its UK subsidiary, Zero Degrees Whitetail Development (ZDW), and Sembcorp Energy UK (SEUK) have announced a collaboration agreement to potentially develop the UK's first NET Power station at SEUK’s Wilton International site on Teesside.

The Whitetail Clean Energy project (Whitetail) is expected to produce about 300 megawatts (MW) of clean, efficient, low-cost electricity, with potential expansion options in the future.

8 Rivers' UK group aims to advance multiple 300MW facilities in the United Kingdom through its Zero Degrees development business and could commission a NET Power station in the United Kingdom as soon as 2025. The Wilton International site offers convenient port and pipeline access, meaning that all Whitetail’s captured carbon dioxide can be conveniently transported to UK sequestration sites to be permanently stored in secure geological formations deep under the North Sea.

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Subject to regulatory support and if finalised to proceed, the collaboration agreement signed by ZDW and SEUK constitutes an important US-UK alliance with the potential to support a significant investment in decarbonisation in Teesside. The Whitetail facility is expected to harness the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle (AFC), pioneered by NET Power and 8 Rivers Capital. The process combusts natural gas with oxygen, rather than air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. As a result, all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2, are eliminated and pipeline-quality CO2 is produced so that it can be captured and stored offshore, making Whitetail a Net Zero emissions plant.

Energy & Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "The development of the UK's first-ever net zero power station, benefitting from over £6 million government support since 2012 is a real game-changer and a significant step forward in the UK's fight against climate change as we build back greener from the pandemic. This project not only demonstrates the UK’s leadership in helping the world decarbonise but our expertise in scaling up research and development projects, creating over 2,000 jobs in Teesside and opening up opportunities right across the supply chain – supporting our efforts to revitalise this key industrial heartland."