The achievement of financial close with the UK government (Department of Energy Security and Net Zero) for Eni’s Liverpool Bay CO2 transport and sequestration scheme can be seen as the entry into the construction phase of the HyNet low carbon cluster. This is one of the first two such projects in the UK, the other being the East Coast Cluster.
Government funding of £21.7 billion to be invested over 25 years has been allocated to these two “Track-1” projects, although it of course remains to be seen how this pans out in practice.
HyNet is located across the North West of England and North Wales. It consists of carbon capture and storage as well as low-carbon hydrogen production and distribution.
The plan is that the CCS system captures carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sites across the region. The CO2 will then be transported by pipeline for permanent, secure storage in Eni’s depleted gas reservoirs beneath the Irish Sea in Liverpool Bay.
The Eni CO2 transport and storage plan foresees repurposing parts of offshore platforms as well as 149 km of onshore and offshore pipeline and construction of 35 km of new pipeline. The CO2 storage capacity will be 4.5 million t/y in the first phase, with the potential to increase to 10 million t/y in the 2030s.
Start-up of the transport and sequestration system is expected in 2028, in line with emitters of the HyNet cluster.
Initial carbon dioxide emitters to be connected to the CCS system include Encyclis’s Protos energy recovery facility, Heidelberg Cement’s Padeswood cement plant, Viridor’s Runcorn energy recovery facility and EET Hydrogen’s hydrogen production plant.
HyNet’s hydrogen system envisages low-carbon hydrogen production at Ellesmere Port’s Stanlow refinery, transport by pipeline to industry and power generators across the region, and storage of hydrogen in underground salt caverns in Cheshire.
The Liverpool Bay carbon sequestration part of the project consists of a network of new and repurposed pipelines connecting sources to storage under the seabed.
HyNet aims to enable industry to manufacture low-carbon versions of “everyday products and services we rely on” — from power produced from non-recyclable waste to “sustainable manufacturing helping to achieve decarbonisation without deindustrialisation.” It will also help cut emissions from backup power stations — those that fill the gap when there is no wind or sunshine — supporting the government’s Clean Power 2030 plan.
Among subcontractors selected by Eni so far are:
- ABB (automation, to be based on the ABB’s Ability™ System 800xA® integrated control and safety platform).
- United Living Group (carbon capture pipeline). United Living Group has in turn placed a contract with Penspen, which will take the lead in the detailed engineering phase for the development of the onshore CO2 pipelines and above ground installations (AGIs), which will transport the captured carbon dioxide from the emitters to the compression station to be located at Eni’s existing terminal at Point of Ayr on the north coast of Wales. The CO2 will be transported through a combination of new assets and repurposed infrastructure.
- Rosetti Marino (four platforms to be used for injecting carbon dioxide into depleted gas reservoirs up to 1 km below the seabed);
- Saipem (construction and commissioning of the Point of Ayr compression station, which will be integrated with both the offshore and onshore segments to be delivered by United Living and Rosetti Marino).
