The regulatory simulation was based on a hypothetical CCS project in Scotland and was run in August 2010. It brought together regulatory agencies, project developers, public interest groups and others including the Institute.

The objective of the exercise was “to identify any regulatory gaps or overlaps that could be streamlined or better managed, and to evaluate the risks, barriers, information gaps and any other issues that would affect the successful demonstration and deployment of CCS in Scotland.” The report is the result of a fruitful and constructive process in which many different stakeholders took part.

The report also states that “the regulatory framework for CCS is emerging well in the UK, with regulators taking a positive, enabling approach to CCS projects, whilst protecting the environment and human health.”

It mainly concludes that the Scottish regulatory framework is generally fit-for-purpose, even though some improvements need to be made to meet CCS developers’ needs. The latter rightly urge regulators to provide more certainty on the legislative framework. There are a number of uncertainties related to the offshore permitting regime and the ratification of the OSPAR convention, which enables the storage of CO₂ offshore. The report says that this information should be available by summer 2011.  Nonetheless, the report stresses the fact that the demonstration projects help to address the gaps, notably for offshore storage. As for CO₂ transport, the potential for delays under the planning regime for onshore pipeline transportation of CO₂ also gives uncertainty.

Scotland has the largest offshore storage capacity in Europe in the North Sea and is at the forefront of the European efforts to develop CCS. The results of this report are highly informative on what must be done to meet the objectives, in terms of requirements and favourable conditions to CCS.

The dry run regulatory simulation was part of the toolkit commissioned by the GCCSI from the Scottish CCS Centre in Edinburgh, supported by the Scottish Government and the Scottish European Green Energy Centre, for knowledge-sharing purposes notably.

Read the output report from the CCS regulatory exercise in depth here.