Biffa and Encyclis win approval for HyNet waste-to-energy CCS plant

BIFFA and waste-to-energy (WtE) firm Encyclis have secured local planning approval to build a carbon capture and storage plant next to its WtE facility at the Hynet North West Cluster in Cheshire, UK.

Expected to prevent 380,000 t/y of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, the CCS plant will be located on adjoining land to Protos ERF, and transport CO2 for offshore storage to the depleted gas fields of Liverpool Bay.

Owen Michaelson, the CEO of Encyclis, said: “Our goal is to prove that we can continue to deliver a vital public sanitation service while cutting the CO2 emissions that contribute to climate change.”

During construction, the CCS plant will support 250 jobs and an additional seven full-time skilled jobs once in operation.

Protos

Biffa and Encyclis expect Protos ERF to process up to 500,000 t/y of residual waste and produce around 49 MW of electricity, enough to power 75,000 homes.

Protos ERF will operate continuously and provide electricity via the National Grid.

Construction of the facility began in 2020 and will be part of Peel NRE’s £700m (US$932m) wider energy and resource hub at Ellesmere Port.

A biomass plant operated by Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG) is already in operation at the Protos Hub. This plant uses commercial waste wood to produce 22 MW of electricity.

HyNet CO2 pipeline

Encyclis is also working with energy company Eni on the HyNet Carbon Dioxide Pipeline project, which involves the construction of new pipelines to transport CO2 from the HyNet cluster to Liverpool Bay.

Protos will have a local CO2 pipeline connected to the wider HyNet pipeline, and Eni expects this network to capture 800,000 t/y of CO2.