
SSE ‘shamed’ into new assessment of climate harm of Peterhead gas plans
Energy giant SSE has been ‘shamed’ into doing a new assessment of the climate harm for its plans for a controversial new gas burning power station in Peterhead.
The company revealed the news in a letter to charities and grassroots groups (15/1/25) who signed an open letter to the Scottish Government in December, demanding a new Environmental Impact Assessment of the fossil fuel project.
Expert research published in October 2024 demonstrated how climate pollution from the project could be 5 times higher than the company had stated in official planning application documents submitted to the Scottish Government. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is a legal obligation for major developments.
Climate groups, MSPs and members of the public have been demanding that the company was made to come clean about the full scale of the climate pollution from its plan to burn gas for the next 35 years whilst using dubious technology to try and capture some of the carbon produced.
Despite the glaring omissions identified by the research, the Scottish Government had refused to use its power as the planning authority to force the company to redo this assessment. Ministers had refused to engage with MSPs or media asking questions about the project.
This news likely means a big delay to the project, and another round of consultations with stakeholders. Climate campaigners believe that if SSE conduct a thorough and honest assessment of the fossil fuel project it will be found ‘incompatible’ with Scotland’s climate commitments.
Friends of the Earth Scotland just transition campaigner Rosie Hampton commented,
“Despite the cowardly Scottish Government refusing to demand answers from SSE, it seems like public pressure has shamed the company into redoing its climate harm assessment. Research last year exposed gaping holes in how SSE had failed to count pollution from the gas to be burned onsite and hugely overestimated the effectiveness of carbon capture.
“If this analysis is conducted thoroughly and honestly it will expose how new fossil fuels are incompatible with Scotland’s climate commitments. In their attempts to lock in expensive fossil fuel burning for another 35 years, these greedy energy companies were caught red handed making claims about carbon capture that do not stand up to the slightest scrutiny.
“The Scottish Government must properly interrogate the climate claims in this new assessment and be willing to stand up to these polluters. Otherwise, the Scottish public will be left to bear the cost of this carbon capture project’s inevitable failure.
“Ministers should recognise that the mounting evidence of climate breakdown, whether that is devastating storms in Scotland or fires in Los Angeles, means that burning fossil fuels cannot be our future. Ministers must instead prioritise greater investment in energy storage, energy efficiency and powering our lives with affordable renewable energy that is run in the public interest.”
Key points from the research by Carbon Tracker published in October 2024:
- There are three major holes in the developer’s environmental assessment: emissions from the extraction and transportation of the gas to be burnt onsite, emissions from periods of time the carbon capture plant is turned off for maintenance, and the failure to account for more realistic capture rates.
- The project could be responsible for 1 million tonnes more climate pollution each year, than the 250,000 tonnes claimed in the company’s EIA.
- SSE and Equinor’s claims that the plant would capture 90-95% of the carbon dioxide it produces have never been achieved and are not supported by evidence. Researchers modelled the emissions produced at a more realistic 75% carbon capture rate (70% is the minimum consistent capture level required to qualify for UK Government subsidy), revealing a far higher climate impact from the project.
- The plant is slated to continue burning fossil fuels until 2059 – 14 years after Scotland is due to reach net zero.
- As North Sea gas runs out, the UK Government forecasts it will import more Liquified Natural Gas, which has a far higher carbon footprint. SSE and Equinor’s environmental assessment fails to consider the predicted changes in the carbon footprint of its fuel throughout the project lifespan.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
SSE letter with Peterhead gas updates (15/1/25) https://foe.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PeterheadCC-SSE-letter.pdf
Research by Carbon Tracker revealed that the climate pollution from the proposed Peterhead gas burning power station and carbon capture plant could be five times higher than the developers SSE and Equinor have disclosed to the Scottish Government. (27th October 2024) https://foe.scot/press-release/peterhead-power-station-5-times-more-climate-pollution-than-developers-admitted/
29 environmental and fuel poverty organisations wrote to the First Minister to demand the Scottish Government instruct the developers to conduct a new environmental impact assessment report from the new gas power plant in Aberdeenshire. (18 December 2024) https://foe.scot/press-release/ministers-must-demand-climate-truth-of-peterhead-gas-carbon-capture-plans/
Exchange between Patrick Harvie + John Swinney on 7 November 2024 with the FM refusing to respond to questions about ordering a new EIA
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-07-11-2024?meeting=16081&iob=137329#orscontributions_M2892E315P804C2626860
Scottish Government refused to answer Monica Lennon MSP’s questions on 20 November 2024 about discrepancies in the Peterhead project EIA.
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-31515
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-31514
Extinction Rebellion Scotland activists locked themselves on to the Scottish Parliament in November 2024 in protest at the SSE fossilfuel plans for Peterhead. https://x.com/XRUK_Actions/status/1854541467860992454
The North Sea Knitters staged a protest ‘knit in’ at the SSE offices in Perth in December 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/DDxHfPqIILd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Photos of these and other protests against the Peterhead plans available in this google folder https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lfgIngyziDb3AGUW7_IoB1J9m-gRETzO?usp=sharing
About the Peterhead gas burning power station
In early 2022 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 is:
* Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 73 national member groups, and 5,000 local activist groups.