UK’s Hynet carbon capture pipeline given the greenlight

A PIPELINE that will transport industrial CO2 for storage beneath Liverpool Bay has been approved, marking the latest step in the development of the UK’s HyNet CCS cluster.

The 60 km pipeline will collect CO2 produced at industry hubs in Ince and Stanlow and transport it to the Point of Ayr terminal in Flintshire, Wales where it will be piped offshore for storage in depleted gas reservoirs owned by Eni.

Authorities have approved the construction of new stretches of pipeline and the repurposing of an existing 24 km stretch of natural gas pipeline. The project is a key element of the wider HyNet CCS cluster project. This includes the construction of two blue hydrogen plants planned at the Stanlow refinery, which will use technology developed by Johnson Matthey to convert natural gas into hydrogen and CO2. The hydrogen will be used at the refinery and sold to local heavy industry players making chemicals and glass.

Eni said the CO2 transport and storage system at HyNet will have a capacity of 4.5m t of CO2/y in the first phase, increasing to 10m t/y after 2030. It is expected that a final investment decision on the Hynet CCS cluster will be made in September.

In 2021, the government selected HyNet along with the East Coast cluster as priority Track-1 CCS projects to receive £1bn (US$1.26m) of taxpayer support. It then added support last year for the Acorn cluster in northeast Scotland and Viking in the Humber before publishing a blueprint in December on how it wants the UK to become a leader in CCS.

Claudio Descalzi, Eni CEO, welcomed the UK’s push to develop projects that will help hard-to-abate industries reduce their emissions.

“Carbon Capture will play a critical role in meeting this challenge by safely eliminating emissions from industries that currently do not have equally efficient and effective solutions. This decision marks a significant step towards establishing a significant new industry for the country,” he said.

The approvals include a 4 km underground stretch of 20” pipeline between Ince and Stanlow with a 2.5m t/y capacity at a pressure of 38 barg. There is also a 32 km stretch of 36” pipeline that will transport 10m t/y of CO2 at up to 35 barg between Stanlow and Flint.