Sembcorp, Zero Degrees Whitetail tie up to explore UK net-zero emissions power plant

SEMBCORP Industries U96 : U96 0%announced in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it would collaborate with Zero Degrees Whitetail Development, the UK subsidiary of US innovation firm 8 Rivers Capital, through its subsidiary Sembcorp Energy UK (SEUK) to explore the development of a net-zero emissions power station in the UK.

The project, named Whitetail Clean Energy, will be situated at SEUK's Wilton International site on Teesside in north-east England and is expected to produce 300 megawatts of electricity, with potential for future expansion. Sembcorp said that this will be the UK's first net-zero emissions power station.

The group added that with the Wilton International site offering convenient port and pipeline access, Whitetail's captured carbon dioxide can be conveniently transported to and stored within UK sequestration sites in secure geological formations deep under the North Sea.

Whitetail is expected to use the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle (AFC), a new type of power cycle pioneered by 8 Rivers Capital and NET Power, a clean energy technology company in the US, the group said. AFC combusts natural gas with oxygen rather than air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam.

Sembcorp said this eliminates all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and carbon dioxide, and pipeline-quality carbon dioxide is produced which can be captured and stored offshore, making Whitetail a net-zero emissions plant.

The plans are subject to UK regulatory support and if finalised, could be an important milestone in advancing the decarbonisation of Teesside, the group said.

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Sembcorp's collaboration agreement with Zero Degrees Whitetail Development is in line with the company's earlier announced aim to quadruple its gross installed renewable energy capacity from 2.6 gigawatts (GW) to 10 GW.

The company is also committed to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and deliver net-zero emissions by 2050.

Shares of Sembcorp closed 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$2.11 on Monday.