2,000 job carbon capture project off North Wales coast gets financial backing
Eni has announced it has reached a financial deal with UK Government on a carbon capture scheme under the sea off North Wales. Eni is the operator of the CO2 transport and storage system of the HyNet industrial Cluster, which aims take carbon dioxide (CO2) and store it in depleted gas fields under Liverpool Bay.
The financial close with the government allows the Liverpool Bay CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) project to move into the construction phase. Backers say the project will support the UK's industrial competitiveness for the long term, by safeguarding existing industrial employment and creating new production chains and jobs.
They added that the construction phase alone is estimated to employ around 2,000 people. This significant milestone follows the UK Government's funding allocation of £21.7 billion to be invested over a 25-year period across the first two CCS Clusters in the country.
It will see a pipeline built across Cheshire and north east Wales - linking Stanlow to Point of Ayr in Flintshire. From there the CO2 will be pumped into the seabed.
UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, said: '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.'
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said: "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."
The Liverpool Bay CCS project will operate as the backbone of the HyNet Cluster to transport carbon dioxide from capture plants across the North West of England and North Wales. The project foresees the efficient repurposing of part of the offshore platforms as well as 149km of onshore and offshore pipelines, and the construction of 35km of new pipelines to connect industrial emitters to the Liverpool Bay CCS network.
They say it will significantly contribute to the reduction of emissions from a wide range of industries across the North West of England and North Wales. This includes companies involved in cement manufacturing, energy from waste plants, low-carbon hydrogen production, as well as additional industrial players who will connect to Eni's infrastructure.
With a storage capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year in the first phase, and the potential to increase to 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year in the 2030s, Eni's CO2 T&S system will make a significant contribution towards achieving the UK's CCS ambitions. Construction of the project is expected to commence this year, ready for planned start-up in 2028, in line with industrial emitters in the HyNet Cluster.
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