Peterhead carbon capture: Series of public meetings to be held

Shell and SSE aim to develop carbon capture at Peterhead

A series of public exhibitions about plans to create a pioneering carbon capture and storage plant at Peterhead are getting under way this week.

Shell and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) are behind the scheme to transform the town's power station.

Greenhouse gas emissions would be captured and transported to the Shell-operated Goldeneye gas field in the North Sea.

Exhibitions will begin on Wednesday at nearby Boddam.

They will continue in Peterhead, Cruden Bay, Fraserburgh and Aberdeen.

The developers hope it could be up and running before the end of the decade.

Paul Garnham, Shell's project manager for the Peterhead CCS Project, said: "The project clearly still has a long way to go, but we want to share our plans with the local communities at an early stage to allow them several opportunities to provide us with feedback as we progress."

The full list of dates and venues for the exhibitions is Boddam public hall on Wednesday from 14:00 to 20:00; the Palace Hotel in Peterhead on 13 January from 14:00 to 20:00; the village hall in Cruden Bay on 14 January from 14:00 to 20:00; Fraserburgh Community and Sports Centre on 15 January from 14:00 to 20:00; the DoubleTree by Hilton in Aberdeen on 16 January from 14:00 to 20:00, and the Hotspot in Peterhead on 17 January from 10:00 to 16:00.

Peterhead and Drax were earlier named as the preferred bidders in the £1bn project.

Grangemouth and the Teesside Low Carbon Project had submitted unsuccessful bids.