Ineos seeks bidders to construct low-carbon power plant at Grangemouth petrochemical complex

Ineos, which operates oil, chemical and power plants at Grangemouth in central Scotland, is Scotland’s biggest polluter, responsible for the largest share of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The five plants produce around three million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

The company has announced it is inviting tenders to build the new plant, which is part of its drive to reach net zero climate emissions by 2045 – in line with Scottish Government targets.

Ineos has said it will invest more than £1 billion in its carbon-cutting strategy, which includes the aim to slash emissions by 60 per cent across the Scottish site by 2030.

The company has said the move, which includes a scheme to use existing pipelines to transfer more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide from Grangemouth to Peterhead annually, to be buried in disused oil and gas wells in the North Sea, marks a “significant step towards delivering a sustainable future” for its businesses.

“We are progressing at pace with our commitment to deliver our net zero plans,” Stuart Collings, chief executive of Ineos Olefins and Polymers UK, said.

“This will see the displacement of hydrocarbon fuels used at Grangemouth, like natural gas, with clean, low-carbon hydrogen to power our processes and manufacture vital materials used across a wide range of sectors.

“To achieve this we are inviting bids from the best engineering companies to design both a state-of-the-art carbon-capture-enabled hydrogen production plant and an extensive suite of related infrastructure projects.”

Ineos has already committed more than £500 million investment on active projects across the site, including the new energy plant – due to be commissioned in 2023.

The facility will employ highly efficient technology to supply energy to all site operations and is projected to cut emissions by at least 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

It will eventually be converted to run on hydrogen to further reduce carbon emissions.

Plans for the hydrogen project will depend on access to the proposed Scottish Cluster of carbon capture and storage infrastructure.

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