Aquaterra Energy Wins Contracts to Prepare Offshore Wells for Teesside Carbon Capture Cluster

Aquaterra Energy has been awarded two significant contracts to support the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), the operator responsible for carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation and storage in the UK’s East Coast Cluster.

The East Coast Cluster, situated off Teesside and the Humber, is the country’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to receive a formal carbon storage permit.

The East Coast Cluster project will initially service three carbon capture operations in the Teesside region, with the NEP aiming to begin CO2 injection as early as 2028. The project is part of the UK government’s wider strategy to capture and store between 20 and 30Mt of CO2 annually by 2030, a crucial step in its net zero emissions plans.

>> In Other News: Kapture and Horizon Power Trial Carbon Capture Tech for Diesel Generators

Under the contracts, Aquaterra Energy will undertake the complex task of safely re-abandoning two legacy wells to ensure the integrity of the storage site. This involves their specialised legacy well re-entry and re-abandonment services, featuring a patented Recoverable Abandonment Frame (RAF). This technology facilitates vertical well re-entry and aims to guarantee that existing wells do not jeopardise the storage of CO2.

In addition, Aquaterra will provide seabed-to-surface well access services to support the drilling of six new subsea CO2 injection wells. The company will deliver its high-pressure subsea drilling riser system, compliant with ISO 13628-7 standards and equipped with proprietary connectors designed for durability and ease of maintenance through multiple operational cycles.

The project’s regulatory framework was solidified when the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) granted NEP the country’s first carbon storage permit, marking a milestone in the UK’s efforts to develop a viable offshore CCS infrastructure. Operating at a permitted injection rate of 4Mt of CO2 per year, the scheme aims to play a substantial role in reducing industrial emissions from the north-east of England.

The East Coast Cluster is among the most advanced CCS developments internationally, demonstrating the growing commercial and technical maturity of carbon storage projects. Its success is expected to pave the way for further offshore CCS projects across the North Sea, supporting the UK's commitment to a low-carbon future.

Carbon capture was given a further vote of confidence by the government this week as it committed £9.4bn to the technology in the Spending Review and signalled backing for two more clusters - Viking on Humberside and Acorn in Aberdeenshire – to advance.

George Morrison, CEO of Aquaterra Energy, commented: "This is a milestone project for CCS in the UK, and we’re proud to be playing a central role. Our early recognition of the engineering challenges facing the sector has enabled us to be at the forefront of this pioneering initiative, providing the solutions needed for enabling long term, large-scale offshore CO2 storage. This project has the potential to set a global benchmark, and we’re excited to help lead the way."

Ben Cannell, innovation director of Aquaterra Energy, added: "Securing both scopes for the Northern Endurance Partnership reinforces confidence in our specialist CCS technology and well access expertise. As the pace of carbon storage projects accelerates, the demand for efficient and CCS compliant drilling intervention and abandonment solutions will continue to grow. With thousands of wells to be both re-abandoned and drilled in the future globally, robust, field-proven systems like ours will be essential to deliver safe and scalable storage in order to de-carbonise hard to abate large static emitters such as steel manufacture, cement production and other large industrial processes quickly."