[London, 24 April] Eni has reached financial close on its Liverpool Bay CCS project – a cornerstone of the HyNet CCS Cluster that will store CO₂ from industry in Eni’s depleted gas fields in the Irish Sea.
This huge achievement ensures critical infrastructure will now be in place to safeguard jobs, attract investment, and revitalise industry in the North West of England and North Wales. This will help transform one of the UK’s most energy-intensive industrial regions into one of the world’s first low-carbon industrial clusters. With financial close now achieved, the Liverpool Bay CCS project enters the construction phase – unlocking investment in local UK supply chains and creating an estimated 2,000 jobs during this phase alone.
The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) welcomes this monumental achievement towards the deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) across the North of Wales and North West of England, prioritising the region’s industrial future while advancing the UK’s broader energy security goals.
HyNet will enable manufacturers to cut emissions, generate clean power and produce low-carbon hydrogen. With Eni’s transport and storage infrastructure now financially secured, vital projects – such as EET Hydrogen’s 350-MW low-carbon hydrogen plant, Encyclis and Viridor’s CCS-enabled Energy-from-Waste facilities, and Heidelberg Materials Padeswood’s cement plant – can move forward.
Eni, as the operator of the CO₂ transport and storage system, will deliver the infrastructure that underpins the cluster – including over 180 kilometres of pipelines and repurposed offshore platforms, connecting regional industries that can capture their CO2 and permanently store it in depleted natural gas reservoirs, located offshore under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.
Eni’s Liverpool Bay CCS project is expected to permanently store 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂ annually in its first phase, scaling up to 10 million tonnes by 2030. By 2035, the cluster could support 6,000 long-term jobs across the region.
Today’s progress underlines the UK’s global leadership in industrial decarbonisation, as part of the UK Government’s commitment to CCUS deployment. The Government can now capitalise on this momentum within the upcoming Spending Review to maximise the growth opportunities presented by CCUS for the UK. This includes advancing the next clusters and projects and putting in place the right market framework to deploy the industry at scale. CCSA analysis shows delivering all clusters could support 50,000+ jobs nationwide and unlock £26bn in private investment by 2050, making it a critical component for realising the Government’s growth agenda and forthcoming industrial Strategy.
Olivia Powis, CEO of the CCSA said:
“This is a pivotal moment for the North West. Eni’s Liverpool Bay CCS project in HyNet is a huge step forward for the CCUS industry and demonstrates the UK’s global leadership in industrial decarbonisation. It will protect vital industries and provide product security, create and protect skilled local jobs, and position the region at the forefront of the low-carbon economy. The focus can shift to delivery – getting spades in the ground, connecting industry, and capturing CO₂.”
“Capitalising on this well-earned momentum is equally essential. This means advancing the next CCUS clusters and projects and providing a route to market for further projects across the UK. These steps will unlock the full growth potential of deploying CCUS at scale, including the potential for 50,000 jobs centred in our declining industrial heartlands. At the same time, it will enhance energy security, drive progress toward net zero targets, and be the central backbone to the UK’s Industrial Strategy.”
Notes to Editor
About the CCSA
CCUS, or Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, is a key low carbon solution – vital to meeting the UK’s statutory Net Zero target at least cost. CCUS enables industrial decarbonisation as well as the production of clean power, clean products (such as cement and chemicals) and clean hydrogen – which can also be used to decarbonise industry. In addition, CCUS also enables greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere through Direct Air Capture with Storage (DACS) or Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).
The CCSA is the trade association accelerating the commercial deployment of CCUS, with offices in the UK and Belgium. We work with members, governments and other organisations to ensure CCUS is developed and deployed at the pace and scale necessary to meet net zero goals and deliver sustainable growth across regions and nations.
The CCSA currently has over 120 member companies who are active in exploring and developing different applications of carbon capture and removals, CO2 transportation by pipeline and ship, utilisation, geological storage, and other permanent storage solutions, end-users in the power, industry, waste management, fuels, and hydrogen production sectors, plus supply chain, engineering, construction and management, legal and financial consulting sectors.