Looking to the future, the Department told us it wants to move the balance of risk away from the government as the market for CCUS evolves.33 The Department’s current assessment is that, because projects are first–of–a– kind, there is an inherent risk [of failure] which the market will not take on and therefore its support is appropriate.34 The Department wants to move away from projects financially backed by the government.35 It wants to establish what it describes as a self–sustaining “…com...

Looking to the future, the Department told us it wants to move the balance of risk away from the government as the market for CCUS evolves.33 The Department’s current assessment is that, because projects are first–of–a– kind, there is an inherent risk [of failure] which the market will not take on and therefore its support is appropriate.34 The Department wants to move away from projects financially backed by the government.35 It wants to establish what it describes as a self–sustaining “…commercial and competitive market…” for CCUS from 2035.36 24 C&AG’s Report, para 18 25 Qq 15–16 26 Q 27 27 Q 56 28 C&AG’s Report, para 2.2 and Figure 6 29 C Type: conclusion | Number: 11 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 1.2 The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (the department) has created business models that provide the minimum subsidy required to support the projects, in order to realise the anticipated benefits and positive value for money. The department keeps the