A major milestone has been reached in a carbon capture project in South Cumbria.
Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Net Zero project has secured a seismic survey vessel to undertake a scope of work in the east Irish Sea.
The firm continues to work towards transitioning its existing operations and strengthens its position as an energy transition business.
The survey will acquire and process around 500 square kilometres of high-resolution 3D seismic data over the Morecambe Bay gas fields to provide the detailed definition of the potential carbon storage sites.
The survey fulfils a requirement on the recently awarded carbon storage licence, and the data acquired will support all subsequent models and mapping for carbon capture and storage initiatives.
Spirit Energy has contracted Shearwater GeoServices Holding AS to enable the progress of the project.
The survey will acquire a much higher resolution dataset than seen previously to enable detailed characterisation of the subsurface and, in conjunction with other existing data, provide confirmation of the significant potential for CO2 storage identified in the Morecambe Bay gas fields.
Spirit Energy’s energy transition director and project lead, Matt Browell-Hook, said: “This achievement marks a pivotal point.
“We are progressing very well against our carbon storage licence commitments and utilising advanced technical approaches to further expand our 40-year operational knowledge of our east Irish Sea assets is another crucial step towards our goal of at scale, commercial carbon storage by 2030.”
MNZ has the potential to be one of the largest carbon stores in the UK and Europe.
Spirit Energy said: “As well as contributing to the UK’s net zero goals, MNZ offers a vast, multi-billion-pound regeneration opportunity for the North West of England through securing the future of hundreds of existing jobs and livelihoods, and creating even more new green jobs, it will deliver a significant economic boost to Barrow.”
