The Gas Strategies Interview: Bill Spence, business opportunity manager, Shell Peterhead CCS project

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has become a bone of contention for the energy industry. The expense involved in implementing it on a global scale has so far prevented the fledgling technology from taking off – which is why Shell’s commitment to CCS raised eyebrows in visual_editor013. Shell’s gas CCS project at Peterhead, Scotland, currently undergoing front end engineering design (FEED), will capture, compress and transport 1 million tonnes of COvisual_editor annually via a pipeline linking the CCGT plant to the depleted Goldeneye reservoir in the North Sea. The demonstration project made it to the final stage of a £1 billion ($1.6 billion) race organised by the UK government, and has significant political backing. But what will guarantee that this new attempt to launch CCS is not another false alarm? Bill Spence, head of the Peterhead CCS project, tells Gas Strategies that location and timing make it a sweet spot for CCS – ‘sweeter’ by far than previous attempts. Spence, who was previously vice president of strategic issues for Shell's projects & technologies business, and vice president COvisual_editor in Shell's corporate head office, says the technology has a strong cost base – making it possible for gas to remain firmly in the decarbonised energy mix.