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Eni and the UK Government reach financial close for the Liverpool Bay CCS project
Date posted:
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Post Author
Tracey Biller
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Italian multinational energy company Eni has reached financial close with the UK Government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for the HyNet project in Liverpool Bay. HyNet is one of two high-profile CCS clusters which together have received funding of £21.7 billion to be invested over a 25-year period.
The funding demonstrates the UK’s commitment to prioritising the development of the CCS sector as a key lever in its decarbonisation and industrial strategy. This is in line with the UK’s broader objective of creating growth opportunities in the country’s industrial heartlands and with its ambition to be a global leader in the energy transition.
As a result of the financial close, the Liverpool Bay CCS project will move into the construction phase, unlocking key investments in supply chain contracts, the majority of which will be spent locally. 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.
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 through new and repurposed infrastructure to safe and permanent storage in Eni’s depleted natural gas reservoirs, located under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.
The project itself 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.
HyNet is one of the world’s most advanced CCS Clusters and will contribute to reducing emissions from a wide range of industries including cement manufacturing, energy from waste plants, and low-carbon hydrogen production. Eni’s CO2 transport and storage system will have an annual capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of CO2in the first phase. This is expected to increase to 10 million tonnes per year in the 2030s.