The UK is on the brink of transformation, that will allow us to provide carbon capture and storage (CCUS) facilities to industry here in the UK and help our European neighbours.
With the government now backing the early development of CCUS as a “highly valuable national asset”, expectations are high for its role in fostering the creation of up to 50,000 jobs across the UK, while targeting the capture of 20–30 million tonnes per year of CO₂ by 2030.
Carbon capture involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) prior to its release into the atmosphere and safely storing it underground, utilising existing voids created by oil and gas extraction. According to the National Grid, the ideal method for storing carbon is to inject it into deep underground rock formations.
In the Northwest, leading hydrogen and carbon capture project HyNet has been identified by Government as one of the first two carbon capture clusters in the UK (known as a Track 1 industry cluster). Working with operator Eni, CO₂ will be captured from major industry across the region and locked away in almost-empty gas fields under the sea in Liverpool Bay.
Recently Eni was granted development consent order by the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Claire Coutinho for the HyNet Carbon Dioxide Pipeline. The project involves constructing a new pipeline to transport CO₂ from both upcoming hydrogen production sites and current industrial facilities in the Northwest of England and North Wales for offshore storage. Eni will manage the CO₂ transportation through underground pipelines for storage beneath the Liverpool Bay.
We have plans for a local CO₂ pipeline which would connect into the consented HyNet CO₂ pipeline, establishing Protos as one of the first carbon-capture ready destinations in the UK.
Our initial studies show this network could capture up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year – equivalent to carbon sequestered by over 13 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
A planning application was submitted by Eni at the start of March 2024 for the Protos Carbon Dioxide Spur Pipeline, which will spur from the HyNet CO₂ pipeline and serve the various developments at Protos.
This will include the Protos Energy Recovery Facility currently under construction. Encyclis is developing plans for a new Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facility and recently signed a Statement of Principles with the UK Government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formalising the commercial basis for the development of the plant so that final negotiations can commence.
The proposed plant aims to capture an estimated 350,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually from the Protos Energy Recovery Facility (ERF). The CO₂ will then be transported via the Spur Pipeline to the Ince Above Ground Installation, where it will eventually be stored in depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay.
Other users will include Evero’s Ince Bio Power site, a waste wood to energy facility located at Protos. The site will have a direct line to HyNet to kick start their Greenhouse Gas Removal project, which would remove 220,000 tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere a year once operational by 2030.
We’re in discussions with other companies involved in the Track 1 cluster expansion process to locate at Protos and take advantage of the direct link to the HyNet carbon capture infrastructure. With land available and future phases coming forward we’re rapidly becoming the UK’s first carbon capture ready destination.
Interested in locating at Protos?