UK government signs off on first HyNet carbon capture projects amid £9.4bn CCUS drive

TWO PLANNED carbon capture facilities in the UK have become the first HyNet cluster projects to advance toward construction, following the signing of final government contracts last week.

The Padeswood cement works in north Wales and the planned Protos energy-from-waste incinerator in Ellesmere Port, northwest England, are set to begin capturing CO2 emissions from 2029, following contract agreements that will enable construction to start this year. Emissions will be transported and stored in depleted gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay as part of the HyNet carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project – a scheme coordinated by Italian oil giant Eni to repurpose existing pipelines to transport emissions from a cluster of industrial emitters across northwest England and north Wales.

The latest greenlight followed Heidelberg Materials and Encyclis signing contracts for difference with the government-owned Low Carbon Contracts Company last week. The value of the contracts has not been disclosed owing to commercial sensitivity, although the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said that funding will be taken from the £9.4bn (US$12.6bn) earmarked for CCUS in the spending review in June.

Combined, the two facilities are expected to capture almost 1.2m tCO2e/y, including 800,000 tCO2e/y from Padeswood, amounting to around 95% of the cement works’ total emissions and more than half of all emissions from Heidelberg Materials’ UK overall cement operations in 2023. The 370,000 tCO2e/y expected to be captured at Protos, meanwhile, amounts to just under half of Encyclis’ total emissions from its three incinerators in the UK and Ireland in 2024. Encyclis plans to incinerate 500,000 t/y of non-recyclable waste at Protos, generating 49.9 MW of electricity.

Cement production is one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industries, responsible for around 8% of global emissions, largely from the vast heat required to turn limestone into clinker.

Emissions at Padeswood are generated from burning domestic waste to heat the cement kiln. Heidelberg Materials says the plant will be the first cement works in the world to capture almost all CO2 emissions from industrial-scale production.

The facility Heidelberg Materials plans to build at Padeswood will use an amine solvent-based technology already deployed at its Brevik cement plant in Norway, which became the world’s first industrial-scale site to capture emissions from cement production when it opened in June. The Brevik plant captures only 50% of emissions, making Padeswood a significant technological advancement.

Heidelberg Materials is also planning to build a new heat and power plant to support the additional energy demand created by the capture facility. The company told TCE that the new heat and power plant will be fuelled by waste heat from cement production and natural gas, and that emissions will be captured.

Heidelberg Materials is also building a new 10 km spur pipeline to connect Padeswood to the wider HyNet network.

Olivia Powis, CEO of the CCS Association, said: “Cement and energy from waste are two of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise, yet they are fundamental to our economy and way of life – from building new homes and vital infrastructure to managing society’s unrecyclable waste and providing reliable low-carbon power.

“These world-leading projects show how carbon capture can provide credible, scalable pathways to net zero securing the future of essential UK industries and keeping businesses competitive in global markets.”

The UK government expects the two projects to generate around 500 jobs, primarily in construction. Heidelberg Materials noted that its facility will create 50 new operational roles while supporting 200 existing positions. UK energy minister Michael Shanks said: “Our clean energy mission means good jobs, regional growth and investment for local communities. These trailblazing projects showcase north Wales and the northwest’s workforce on the global stage – leading the charge in the clean industries of the future and powering Britain’s reindustrialisation.”

Captured doubts

The HyNet cluster’s move toward construction marks a milestone in the UK’s £30bn commitment to carbon capture, with Eni repurposing 149 km of pipeline and targeting 10m tCO2e/y in storage capacity. While the government hails the projects as catalysts for regional growth and industrial decarbonisation, critics warn that CCUS remains unproven at scale. A recent study published in Nature also raised concerns about global storage limitations, suggesting capacity may be far lower than previously estimated.