The European Commission (EU) has awarded €300m funding for a carbon storage project located at the UK’s largest coal-fired power station, the Drax plant in Yorkshire.

Europe’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, the White Rose project, will provide clean electricity to more than 630,000 homes while supporting up to 2,000 jobs.

In addition to capturing around 90% of its carbon dioxide emissions, the plant is expected to safely store two million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually under the North Sea seabed.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey said the White Rose CCS project will create thousands of green, local jobs and make a real difference to cutting carbon emissions.

“The UK is at the forefront of developing carbon capture and storage, with excellent potential for storage in the North and Irish Seas, and the expertise in operating offshore to make it a reality,” Davey said.

“And as a world leader in the technology, as carbon capture and storage is commercialised, Britain will be in first place to export this knowledge to a decarbonising global economy.”

Being developed by a consortium of Alstom, BOC, Drax and National Grid, the White Rose project involves construction of a new state-of-the-art clean coal power plant with a large CO2 transport and storage network.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The White Rose carbon capture project will massively reduce emissions in the region and hopefully pave the way for low-carbon industrial zones in other parts of the country.”

Clean power plants with CCS are estimated to provide more than 20% of the UK’s electricity by 2050