Eni has reached financial close with the UK Government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for the Liverpool Bay CCS project, a cornerstone of the HyNet North West industrial cluster. The initiative aims to significantly reduce industrial carbon emissions in the Liverpool and Manchester regions by 2028.
The project includes the development of a 38-mile pipeline to transport CO2 emissions from industrial sites in northwest England and north Wales to Eni’s depleted gas fields in the Irish Sea. This marks a major milestone, advancing the project into its construction phase.
The Liverpool Bay CCS project is expected to create 2,000 jobs and inject £2 billion into the supply chain across North Wales and North West England. Initially, the pipeline will sequester 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually, with plans to scale up to 10 million tonnes by 2030. This development aligns with the UK’s broader commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Additionally, Eni has secured a €520 million contract with Saipem to convert a gas processing facility in northern Wales into a CO2 compression station. This facility will facilitate the safe and permanent storage of CO2 in offshore depleted fields under the Liverpool Bay project.
This partnership represents a significant step forward in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, with the Liverpool Bay CCS project playing a crucial role in reducing industrial emissions while contributing to economic growth in the region.
Comments from the parties involved
Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero: “Today we keep our promise to launch a whole new clean energy industry for our country – carbon capture and storage – to deliver thousands of highly skilled jobs and revitalise our industrial communities. This investment from our partnership with Eni is government working together with industry to kickstart growth and back engineers, welders and electricians through our mission to become a clean energy superpower. We are making the UK energy secure so we can protect families and businesses and drive jobs through our Plan for Change.”
Claudio Descalzi, Eni CEO: “The strategic agreement with the UK Government paves the way for the industrial-scale development of CCS, a sector in which the United Kingdom reaffirms its leadership thanks to the promotion of a regulatory framework that aims to strengthen the development of CCS and make it fully competitive in the market. Eni has established itself as a leading operator in the UK thanks to its key role in CO2 transport and storage activities as the leader of the HyNet Consortium, which will become one of the first low-carbon clusters in the world. CCS will play a crucial role in tackling the decarbonisation challenge by safely eliminating CO2 emissions from industries that currently do not have equally efficient and effective solutions. Eni confirms its position at the forefront in the creation of this new, highly sustainable business linked to the energy transition.”
In the photo: HyNet onshore plant. Photo credit: Eni
