Brits face £20 a year extra on energy bills for 'carbon capture' tech

Brits could face an extra £20 a year on energy bills to fund carbon capture technology.

The government is proposing to back a host of projects to store emissions from gas-fired power plants and factories.

They are expected to cost £21.7billion over the next 25 years. And the top mandarin at Ed Miliband's Department for Net Zero has revealed that around three quarters will be funded from energy bills.

That would mean roughly £520 for each of the country's domestic and non-domestic users, or just over £20 a year.

However, commercial users are likely to end up paying a higher proportion, and levies will not be added until 2029 when projects are up and running. 

DESNZ permanent secretary Jeremy Pocklington told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee last week that the other quarter of costs would probably be borne from central government funds.

'It is important to understand that about three quarters of that funding will come from levies and about a quarter will come from the Exchequer,' he said according to the Telegraph.

Mr Pocklington insisted officials were 'very conscious about the costs' to consumers.

The government wants to decarbonise the energy grid by 2030, although unabated gas power stations will be kept in reserve. 

Mr Pocklington told MPs: 'Our assessment is that carbon capture, as part of a wider suite of policies, is the most appropriate and the best-value way to meet our carbon budgets and tackle climate change.

'If you do not use carbon capture in some form, the other things that you are doing are more challenging than carbon capture. That is the key essence.

'For some industries - for example, cement, where there are very high emissions from essentially chemical processes - as yet we do not have another tech that works that will be able to capture the emissions reliably. So carbon capture has to play an important role in meeting our carbon budgets.'

Projects being planned include Net Zero Teesside, which will see emissions from a new gas-fired power station captured, liquefied and then stored underneath the North Sea.

A DESNZ spokesman said: 'As shown by the National Energy System Operator's independent report, clean energy such as power CCUS is key in reaching our 2030 mission, and delivering a more secure energy system, which could see a lower cost of electricity and lower bills.

'Without carbon capture, British industry will be unable to make the transition to a clean energy future.

'Initially, carbon capture projects will be funded by the exchequer with no impact on bills. 

'From 2029 onwards, they will be partially funded by levy and exchequer funding – but this will only be provided once sites are up and running and projects meet strict construction and performance milestones.'