Eni gets gov’t funding for UK’s first foray into repurposing infrastructure to unlock CCS opportunities

Italy’s oil and gas giant Eni has secured the UK government’s funding for a carbon dioxide (CO2) transport and storage project in North-West England and North Wales, which will see the firm reuse existing pipelines and platforms to transport and store CO2 from a carbon capture and storage (CCS) industrial cluster.

The funding earmarked for the project in Liverpool Bay includes investment for Track 1 industrial emitters and is described as a key milestone for the HyNet CCS cluster, where the Italian firm operates the transportation and storage system, which is expected to help reduce emissions from hard-to-abate industries.

With an initial 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 after 2030, the project is anticipated to contribute to achieving the UK’s ambition to store 20-30 million tonnes per year of CO2.

“On Monday, 150 years of coal in this country came to an end. Today, a new era begins. By securing this funding, we pave the way for securing the clean energy revolution that will rebuild Britain’s industrial heartlands,” said Ed Miliband, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. “I was proud to kickstart the industry in 2009, and I am even prouder today to turn it into reality. This funding is a testament to the power of an active Government working in partnership with businesses to deliver good jobs for our communities.”

Moreover, HyNet is set to transform one of the UK’s most energy-intensive industrial regions into one of the world’s first low-carbon industrial clusters by reusing the depleted reservoirs operated by Eni, located under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

A development consent order (DCO) for a newbuild pipeline that will transport CO2 from capture plants to the reservoirs, was secured in March.

The project entails building a carbon capture plant, which is set to prevent around 380,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, estimated to correspond to taking around 200,000 cars off the road.

The CO2 will come from the Protos Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), which is being built by Encyclis and Biffa on adjoining land. Once operational, Protos will be able to process up to 500,000 tonnes per year of residual waste, generating enough baseload electricity to power around 75,000 homes and recovering reusable resources in support of the circular economy.

Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, said: “Today’s news is an important step towards the creation of a new business chain linked to the energy transition. HyNet will become one of the first low-carbon clusters in the world and the project will decarbonise one of the key energy-intensive industrial districts as well as unlock significant economic growth in this region of the UK. This commitment is clear evidence of how governments and industry can work together to implement pragmatic and effective industrial policies, in order to accelerate decarbonisation. On our side, it reaffirms Eni’s role as a key partner with the UK in enabling its journey towards Net Zero.”

Along with operating this project, the Italian player also has a key role in the Bacton Thames Net Zero project. Set up two years ago, the net-zero initiative aims to contribute to the decarbonization of the South East of England and the Thames region. Thanks to the combination of Hynet, Bacton Thames, and three other CO2 storage licenses in the UK, Eni has around 1 giga ton of gross storage capacity throughout the country.

The energy giant believes that CCS will play a crucial role in the energy transition and sees itself as a key partner in the UK’s transition journey, where it is present across the entire energy value chain. 

Earlier this month, Eni joined forces with Ithaca Energy for upstream activities, thus becoming Britain’s second-largest oil and gas independent operator. The new entity will hold stakes in six of the ten largest fields and the top two largest undeveloped fields on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).