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Environmental and fuel poverty organisations are urging the Scottish Government to learn the ‘climate truth’ of controversial proposals for a new gas burning power station at Peterhead. 
 
Friends of the Earth Scotland, Oil Change International and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland are amongst 29 groups who have signed a letter to the First Minister to demand they instruct the developers to conduct a new assessment of the environmental harm from the new gas power plant in Aberdeenshire.  
 
Expert research published in October found that the climate emissions from the project could be five times higher than SSE and Equinor have admitted in official documents submitted to the Scottish Government as part of their planning application. The companies failed to account for pollution created by extraction and transportation of the gas to be burnt onsite or pollution created when the carbon capture plant wasn’t working. 
 
Despite these revelations, Ministers have refused to use their powers to order the developers to produce a new assessment. A similar carbon capture gas power station in Teesside was ordered by the UK Government to resubmit a new environmental assessment as part of the planning process.
 
Friends of the Earth Scotland climate campaigner Alex Lee (they/them) commented, 
 
“Ministers should be demanding the climate truth about the Peterhead gas project. Research has exposed how the official planning documents are riddled with selective carbon accounting and wildly optimistic forecasts. 
 
“The Scottish Government’s lack of curiosity is astounding for a project that could be driving climate pollution and energy bills for the next 30 years. These companies are making claims about carbon capture that do not stand up to the slightest scrutiny, yet Ministers are refusing to use their power to ask them to redo their climate assessment.
 
“New fossil fuel burning will critically undermine the energy transition and make it even harder for the Scottish Government to meet its climate commitments. Instead of trying to build an energy system on the rotten foundations of carbon capture, we should be devoting our time and resources into expanding a renewable energy system that is affordable, reliable and run in the public interest.”
 
Since February 2022, the Scottish Government has been considering an application from SSE and Equinor to build a new gas burning station with carbon capture next to the existing station. Climate campaigners have previously accused Ministers of repeated breaches of the Ministerial Code in relation to their mishandling of the application and repeated cosy meetings with the developers. 
 
If approved, the Peterhead gas proposal would also lock Scottish households into paying energy prices which are set by international gas markets and are prone to external shocks such as the war in Ukraine. 
 
Rosemary Harris, Senior Campaigner, Oil Change International:
 
“The UK has thrown £500 million of public money at carbon capture schemes that have delivered absolutely nothing. This isn’t an accident – it’s a pattern. With 80% of carbon capture projects worldwide either failing or stalled, the fossil fuel industry’s promises aren’t just empty, they’re expensive. 
 
“Every pound wasted on these failed schemes is a pound stolen from real climate solutions. We don’t need more costly experiments – we need proven, working solutions like renewable energy that can deliver for our communities today.”

Notes to Editors

Read the open letter to First Minister and the list of signatories
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fTN5mwo-WaGSAi0l-lDMlFmqp9z545tJoyVk-5jfGIc/edit?usp=sharing

The research, by independent think tank Carbon Tracker, highlighted how the companies’ Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report – a legal requirement in planning applications – deliberately failed to account for the climate pollution from a range of factors, including the greenhouse gases produced by extracting and transporting the gas which will be burned to generate electricity. (October 2024)
https://foe.scot/press-release/peterhead-power-station-5-times-more-climate-pollution-than-developers-admitted/

About the Peterhead gas burning power station

SSE and Equinor submitted a planning application for a new gas burning power station with carbon capture plant at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. The application is for an additional plant alongside the existing Peterhead gas burning power station, which is already one of Scotland’s single biggest polluters.

The development poses a significant risk to Scotland’s legally enshrined climate and emission reduction targets and to a just transition for workers and communities. The Scottish Government will make the decision whether to approve this project and lock households into reliance on fossil fuels for energy until 2059.
https://foe.scot/resource/stopping-plans-for-a-new-gas-burning-power-station-at-peterhead-civil-society-briefing/

Friends of the Earth Scotland demanded an investigation into repeated breaches of the Ministerial Code. Incidents include ministers discussing the planning application with developers, ministers publicly supporting the project and the former First Minister Humza Yousaf appearing in a promotional video for power station developers SSE.
https://foe.scot/press-release/investigation-demanded-after-cynical-attempt-by-first-minister-to-dismiss-code-of-conduct-breaches/

Legal challenge against the Net Zero Teesside project
https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/2024-news/legal-challenge-to-decision-to-build-new-power-station-on-teesside-to-be-heard-in-high-court/

Oil Change International campaigns to expose the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitate the ongoing transition towards clean energy.
https://www.oilchange.org/about/

Photos from a July 2024 protest about the proposed Peterhead power station
https://flickr.com/photos/friendsoftheearthscotland/albums/72177720318924096/