BP Pulls Out of Scottish Carbon Capture Plant

BP has announced the abandonment of plans for a £500m UK carbon capture power plant and is blaming the government for its demise.

The energy giant said that the firm could not wait any longer for a decision from energy chiefs.

The plant, in Peterhead, Scotland, was to generate "carbon-free" electricity from hydrogen, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It would have split hydrogen and carbon dioxide, burning the first and burying the second under the sea bed and was to be the world’s first full-scale project of its kind. The development was expected to create 1,000 jobs.

A BP spokesman said: "We've been sitting on this proposal now since 2005, waiting to see what the Government would decide.

"The Miller oil field is coming to the end of its life this year and we cannot go on in anticipation of the decision.

"We've spent about &3#6;50m so far on this project and we cannot go on spending on it."

BP will continue with similar projects in Australia and Canada.