New Peterhead gas assessment exposes project as “climate disaster”

Climate campaigners have said plans for a new gas burning power station in Peterhead must be rejected by Ministers after the developer SSE was forced to admit it will be nearly three times more damaging for the climate than initially feared.

In the face of growing public concern, the energy giant produced a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project which this time admitted to the inevitable climate emissions from extracting the gas and transporting it to burn at the proposed Aberdeenshire site.

Campaigners warn that the new figures are likely still to be a “gross underestimate” of climate emissions because SSE’s estimates of carbon capture rates at the power plant have never been achieved before anywhere in the world.

Independent research in 2024 found the project could be up to five times more polluting than SSE had originally admitted in official planning documents. Despite the concerns raised about the climate impact of the proposals, Scottish Ministers failed to order the company to redo its Environmental Impact Assessment.

Key facts from the new Environmental Impact Assessment:

• Lifetime climate pollution increases from 6.3 million tonnes CO2e to 17.1 million tonnes CO2e
• Annual emissions are set to be 682,610 tonnes CO2e each year
• The new station would burn gas from 2030 until 2055 – 10 years past Scotland’s net zero target date
• The existing gas power station at Peterhead is one of Scotland biggest polluters and will run concurrently burning gas until 2040.
• A 75% carbon capture rate is a more realistic estimate of the plant’s operation (70% is the minimum consistent capture level required to qualify for UK Government subsidy). SSE’s claims that the plant would capture 90% of the carbon dioxide it produces have never been achieved anywhere and are not supported by evidence.

Scottish Government must “reject it completely”

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s climate campaigner Alex Lee (they/them) said:

“SSE has been forced to admit its plans for new gas burning at Peterhead would be a climate disaster for decades to come. The climate case for this project was always desperately weak and now it is in tatters. Scottish Government Ministers must reject it completely.

“Even the tripling of its climate harm is likely to be a gross underestimate because of SSE’s wildly exaggerated claims about how much carbon it aims to capture. This entire scheme is built on the rotten foundations of carbon capture, which decades of evidence has made clear will not work.

“New fossil fuel infrastructure will lock household electricity bills to the volatile international price of gas and keep people trapped in this exploitative energy system that has produced widespread fuel poverty and climate breakdown.

“The Scottish Government should be embarrassed by its failure to ever properly interrogate the claims of SSE or order a new environmental assessment when concerns were raised.

“Ministers can save some face now by scrapping these plans and investing in climate solutions that we know will work today and improve lives – upgrading public transport, insulating homes and creating green jobs in credible industries with a secure future.”

Local community “doesnt need another power plant”

Friends of the Earth Scotland North East community engagement officer Michelle Marshall commented,

“This research shows that SSE are risking creating a huge climate polluter in the heart of Aberdeenshire.

“Burning gas to generate electricity for another 25 years means that our bills will remain tied to the international gas prices that have caused so much pain and fuel poverty in recent years.

“The community in Peterhead and Boddam doesn’t need another power plant generating electricity they can’t afford. People tell us they want investment in vital public services like healthcare and libraries, as well as decent activities for young people.”