Sembcorp Energy subsidiary, 8 Rivers Capital plan UK net zero power plant

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. clean technology firm 8 Rivers Capital and Sembcorp Energy UK, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries, plan to build a net-zero emissions power plant in Teesside in northeast England, the firms said on Tuesday.

The 300-megawatt project, called Whitetail Clean Energy, would use a process to produce energy which combusts natural gas with oxygen, rather than air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide, a fluid, to drive the turbine instead of steam.

The carbon dioxide produced would be captured and stored offshore. The firms say the plant would be the first net zero power station.

The project is subject to regulatory approval.

Britain has a target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century, compared with a previous goal for at least an 80% reduction from 1990 levels.

Teesside is one of the hubs in Britain which the government hopes can showcase decarbonising industry through carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and renewables projects.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Mark Potter)