Eni UK, a subsidiary of Italy-headed oil and gas major Eni S.p.A, has announced that its submission to the Cluster Sequencing process on behalf of the HyNet Consortium Cluster, has been accepted as a Track 1 project. This acceptance will allow Eni UK and the supporting entities of HyNet North West to proceed as one of the first UK industrial clusters to apply carbon capture and storage (CCS), to materially reduce carbon emissions in the UK.
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Earlier this year, the UK Government launched a process to determine the sequence in which it would support the decarbonization of regional industry clusters across the UK.
This process has placed the clusters in the following two ‘tracks’: Track 1 which would begin decarbonizing industry from 2025, and Track 2 from around 2030.
This firmly puts the UK as the world leader in clean energy. The ability of HyNet to transform the North West, safeguarding jobs, creating new ones, and positioning the region at the forefront of green innovation is hugely exciting. The project has been unique from the start in the breadth of businesses involved with it, from glass manufacturers to cereal producers. I look forward to watching how the project progresses and to seeing the contribution it makes in helping the UK meet its ambitious climate targets, said Secretary of State, Kwasi Kwarteng MP commenting on the decision to give HyNet North West Track 1 status.
The result of the Cluster Sequencing process, announced by the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), will allow HyNet companies to build on the significant amount of momentum gained in recent months, enabling project partners to further invest to substantially reduce carbon emissions in North West England and North Wales over the next 25 years.
This decision is a huge vote of confidence in the businesses across the North West and their ambitious plans to transform the local economy, putting the UK at the cutting edge of green technologies. We are particularly excited that this project will not only help the UK’s wider mission of reaching Net Zero but be a catalyst for jobs across industries that have so much potential in the region. There are more than 340,000 manufacturing jobs in the North West and this project getting the go-ahead is a ringing endorsement of the businesses in the area. As co-chairs of the cross-party coalition, we look forward to working with the UK Government to ensure HyNet delivers on its ambitious commitments in the years to come, commented Justin Madders MP and Andy Carter MP, co-chairs of the cross-party coalition group for HyNet North West.
Industry-led cluster
Led by Eni UK, the organizations contributing to the HyNet Cluster Sequence Submission include Progressive Energy, CF Fertilisers, Essar Oil UK, Hanson Cement, Viridor, Ince BioEnergy, Fulcrum BioEnergy, University of Chester, Peel NRE, Cadent, INOVYN, Uniper, Tarmac, Lhoist, and Breedon.
HyNet is led by the demand from organizations and stakeholders across the North West of England and North Wales, who all want to reduce carbon emissions to Net-Zero. From as soon as 2025, the project will enable our manufacturing sector across the region to decarbonize, as well as provide the opportunity to transition the way we travel and how we heat our homes. HyNet brings huge economic benefits, safeguarding existing jobs across the region and creating around 6 000 new employment opportunities to support the leveling up of the UK. The project partners are ready to deliver and, as one of the first industrial decarbonization clusters, we will play a big part in shaping the country’s hydrogen economy, positioning the UK as a global leader in the sector, said David Parkin, HyNet Project Director.
More specifically, the announcement will now allow Eni UK, in cooperation with the UK Government, to finalize terms within a regulated business model to deliver infrastructure for the Transport and Storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2025.
This will include the completion of arrangements with companies wishing to use Eni UK’s infrastructure to capture their CO2 emissions for safe and permanent storage.
Includes hydrogen production and distribution
The HyNet development scenario for industrial decarbonization includes hydrogen production and subsequent distribution to industry for fuel switching, through the development of a regional hydrogen market within a dedicated supply network. It will also incorporate the direct capture of emissions from industries where fuel switching is not an option.
Through its dedicated affiliate, Liverpool Bay CCS Ltd, Eni UK will develop and operate both the onshore and offshore transportation and storage of CO2, providing a service for emitters to transport and permanently store CO2 offshore in the company’s depleted Liverpool Bay gas fields.
The UK Government has recognized the importance of the contribution that the HyNet project can make to the decarbonization of pivotal activities in the country. This decision demonstrates once again that carbon capture, use, and storage technology is an important solution that is safe, effective, and immediately available to reduce emissions from sectors that have no technological alternatives and accelerate their energy transition. We must be pragmatic to address the challenges that face us ahead: starting immediately and powerfully with the tools we currently have to decarbonize traditional sources today, while investing heavily in technology to develop and improve new sources for the future, said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.
