The British government has committed substantial funding to two pivotal carbon capture projects, the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire and the Viking project in the Humber, signaling a strong push towards industrial renewal and net-zero targets.
The British government has committed substantial funding to two pivotal carbon capture projects, the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire and the Viking project in the Humber, signaling a strong push towards industrial renewal and net-zero targets. Announced on June 12, 2025, by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, this investment, totaling £9.4 billion from the government's Spending Review, aims to safeguard and create tens of thousands of skilled jobs in the North Sea and industrial heartlands for decades to come.
This move follows years of delay in backing UK carbon capture industries and represents a significant step in the government's "Plan for Change" agenda, which promises economic growth and a cleaner energy future for Britain. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband emphasized the government's commitment, stating, "This government is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the trailblazing Acorn and Viking CCS projects." He added that these initiatives would foster "industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain’s clean energy future."
The Acorn project in Aberdeenshire will receive approximately £200 million in development funding, marking the first time a government has provided funding of this scale for carbon capture projects to proceed. This funding will also cover the National Gas SCO2T Connect project, which involves repurposing 175 miles of existing Gas Pipeline and constructing 35 miles of new pipeline to transport captured CO2 from Grangemouth to North Sea storage facilities. The Acorn project is projected to support around 15,000 jobs during its peak construction, with the potential to safeguard an estimated 18,000 existing North Sea jobs that might otherwise have been lost, including those at Grangemouth.
Similarly, the Viking project in the Humber region will also receive development funding. This project is expected to create up to 20,000 jobs during its construction peak, including 1,000 apprenticeships, further bolstering the region's proud industrial heritage.
Once operational, the Acorn and Viking projects are projected to collectively remove up to 18 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. Beyond emissions capture, carbon capture technology is also seen as crucial for generating low-carbon power and enabling Hydrogen production, with the industry anticipated to support up to 50,000 jobs across the UK by the 2030s.
This latest funding builds on previous support for two more advanced projects in Liverpool Bay and Teesside, which reached financial close earlier this year.12 The government's significant investment aims to unlock billions in private sector funding, positioning Aberdeen and the Humber as global leaders in net-zero and low-carbon industries. Both projects will now advance their proposals with the goal of reaching financial closure later this Parliament, contingent on project readiness and affordability.
