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UKCS current carbon storage licences (WGS84)

Publisher
North Sea Transition Authority
Updated
15 August 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

  • Carbon capture and storage (CCS) refers to a number of techniques and processes which capture carbon dioxide emissions, generally from industrial processes. Thecarbon dioxide (CO2) can then be transported, including via repurposed gas pipelines, and stored, for example in underground locations CO2 will typically be stored at depths greater than 800 metres, where it no longer behaves as a gas, but instead as a supercritical fluid. The same geological formations that are well understood in the UK from many decades of oil and gas production, such as the Triassic Bunter Formation and Tertiary Forties Sandstones, are also likely to be ideal for the storage of carbon dioxide.
  • CCS involves the capture of CO2 emissions from industrial processes, such as steel and cement production, the generation of hydrogen through steam reforming, or from the burning of biomass or fossil fuels in power generation. It may also be used in combination with emerging direct air capture technologies. This carbon dioxide is then transported from where it was produced, via ship or in a pipeline, and stored deep underground in geological formations.
  • The NSTA is the licensing authority for offshore CO2 storage in the UK, approving and issuing carbon dioxide storage and appraisal licences, storage permits, and maintaining the carbon storage public register.
  • Certain activities proposed under CS licences may also be subject to specific environmental assessment by BEIS (Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED)).
  • A licensee also requires a lease from the Crown Estate/Crown Estate Scotland (as applicable) before undertaking storage activities.
  • NSTA/TCE/CES joint statement
  • NSTA/OFGEM Memorandum of Understanding
  • The list of carbon dioxide appraisal and storage projects licensed by the NSTA can be seen here
  • The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (Chapter 11, Executive Summary)
  • BEIS leads government policy on CCS

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SQLite Geodatabase GDB – 18/6/2026
GeoPackage GPKG – 18/6/2026
Feature Collection TXT – 18/6/2026
Excel XLSX – 18/6/2026
File Geodatabase ZIP – 18/6/2026
GeoJSON GEOJSON – 18/6/2026
KML KML – 18/6/2026
Shapefile ZIP – 18/6/2026
CSV CSV Preview 18/6/2026
ArcGIS GeoService ARCGIS GEOSERVICES REST API – 18/6/2026
ArcGIS Hub Dataset HTML – 18/6/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Harvest GUID
https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=ae0b0c44c6214112a0612ee66cf493dc&sublayer=0

Contact

correspondence@nstauthority.co.uk

foirequests@nstauthority.co.uk

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

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