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The Yorkshire and Humber Carbon Capture and Storage Cross Country Pipeline

My honourable Friend , Minister for State for Energy and Climate Change made the following statement today.

This statement concerns the application made by National Grid Carbon Limited under the Planning Act 2008 on 18 June 2014 for the construction of a pipeline of approximately 75km in length from the White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage Project to the coast at Barmston in the East Riding of Yorkshire (“the Pipeline project”).

The proposed Pipeline project would transport carbon dioxide from industrial emitters and electricity generating stations fitted with carbon capture infrastructure to an offshore pipeline system and a storage facility under the North Sea. Consent applications for the offshore pipeline system and the proposed storage facility are being considered outside the Planning Act regime.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make her decision within three months of receipt of the Examining Authority’s report unless exercising the power under section 107(3) to extend the deadline and make a Statement to the House of Parliament announcing the new deadline. The deadline for the decision on the Pipeline project was 19 May 2016 having been extended from 19 November 2015 by way of my Written Ministerial Statement of 19 November 2015 [Columns 21 and 22 of the Official Record].

The Secretary of State has decided to extend the deadline for the decision to 31 August 2016 to allow consultation on the need case for the Pipeline project given the decision to refuse consent for the White Rose CCS project on 13 April 2016 and consideration of other relevant outstanding issues.

The decision to set the new deadline for the project is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent for the project.