Harbour Energy secures UK development funding for Viking CCS
Harbour Energy announced that the UK government has approved development funding for its Viking carbon capture and storage project in the Humber, a milestone the company said moves the transport and storage scheme closer to a final investment decision within the current Parliament, subject to project readiness and affordability.
The funding, allocated by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and reported at £65.5 million, will pay for the further technical and commercial work needed to advance the project as Harbour Energy continues discussions with government, regulators and stakeholders. The company completed front-end engineering design in the first quarter of 2025 and secured a Development Consent Order for the project’s onshore pipeline in April 2025, meaning the principal engineering and planning prerequisites for a final investment decision are already in place.
Viking CCS is Harbour Energy’s operated carbon dioxide transport and storage network serving the Yorkshire and Humber region, one of the most carbon-intensive industrial clusters in the UK. The project is designed to capture around 4 million tonnes of UK emissions per year from the early 2030s, transporting carbon dioxide by pipeline for permanent storage in depleted gas fields beneath the southern North Sea. Earlier project documentation has indicated the scheme could scale towards 10 million tonnes per year by the mid-2030s, and the wider development has been estimated to unlock up to £7 billion of investment across the capture, transport and storage value chain.
Graeme Davies, executive vice president for global CCS at Harbour Energy, said the approval sends a strong signal that Viking CCS can make a significant contribution to industrial investment and economic activity in the Humber, and confirmed the company will work with government on the remaining steps towards a final investment decision.
UK energy minister Michael Shanks said carbon capture, usage and storage is vital to Britain’s clean energy future and to reindustrialising its manufacturing heartlands, describing the announcement as welcome progress for the region that will drive investment, growth and thousands of skilled jobs. The Carbon Capture and Storage Association said the funding is an important step for CCUS deployment in the UK and will help keep Humber industries internationally competitive.
Viking CCS was selected under Track 2 of the UK’s CCS cluster sequencing process and follows the Track 1 clusters — the East Coast Cluster on Teesside and HyNet in the North West — which have already received storage permits and government funding from the UK’s commitment of up to £21.7 billion for the sector. The project remains subject to relevant regulatory approvals, commercial arrangements and final investment decisions.
