The [ERM] team has provided a highly professional service and valuable experience throughout the early delivery of this innovative and important project [Acorn CCS and hydrogen]."
Kirsty Lynch
Communications Director, Pale Blue Dot Energy
Acorn CCS & hydrogen projects
Photo credit: Kirsten Tillotson, United Kingdom
Acorn is one of the leading UK carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects. It can be operational by the mid 2020s, providing carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation infrastructure essential for meeting Scottish and UK net-zero targets.
Acorn CCS is designed to be built quickly, taking advantage of existing oil and gas infrastructure and a well understood offshore CO2 storage site. Through the Acorn Hydrogen project, North Sea natural gas would be reformed into hydrogen, with CO2 emissions safely mitigated through the Acorn CCS infrastructure. Hydrogen would be used in transport applications, and in the gas grid to decarbonize heating in homes and industries.
Acorn CCS has been designated a European Project of Common Interest and together with Acorn Hydrogen, is a very important catalyst for clean growth in the northeast of the United Kingdom and beyond. The project is led by Pale Blue Dot Energy (a Storegga Group Company), with funding and support from industry partners (Harbour Energy and Shell) the UK and Scottish Governments, and the European Union.
ERM support for Acorn Hydrogen
Pale Blue Dot Energy has engaged ERM for environmental, technical and behavioral safety, and stakeholder support with the Acorn Hydrogen Project. ERM is providing a range of services, including:
- Environmental impact assessment and permitting support;
- Register of environmental risks and impacts;
- Stakeholder consultation;
- Best available technology assessment;
- Hazard and environmental identification workshops;
- Control of major accident hazards review;
- Safety philosophy and behavioral safety screening; and
- Dispersion modeling.
ERM support for Acorn CCS
ERM is also providing environmental, safety and stakeholder engagement advice to Pale Blue Dot Energy for the Acorn CCS Project, alongside the selected engineering contractor. During the first phase of operations, Acorn will capture industrial emissions at the St. Fergus Gas Terminal and then utilize existing, redundant oil and gas offshore pipelines to store these emissions within the Acorn Storage License Area.
ERM has been supporting Pale Blue Dot Energy since the early screening and scoping stages of the project. This includes baseline studies, desktop reviews, constraints mapping, permitting and greenhouse gas studies, technical safety input, dispersion modeling and stakeholder consultation support. ERM’s scope of work encompasses both the onshore and offshore elements of the project.