Eni And UK Government Greenlight £2B CCS Project

In a significant move towards realizing the UK's net-zero goals, Eni and the UK Government have formally achieved financial close on the Liverpool Bay Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, the start of one of the country's most ambitious low-carbon infrastructure projects. With construction to start in 2025 and operations planned for 2028, the project is a key building block of the HyNet Cluster—a fully integrated CCS system that is one of the most sophisticated of its type in the world.

This milestone achievement opens up a flood of up to £2 billion of supply chain contracts, with the majority anticipated to go to Northern England. In addition to the economic injection, the project will create 2,000 new jobs at construction stage, rejuvenating local industrial communities and underpinning the UK's position as a global leader in clean energy innovation. The announcement follows the UK Government's more general commitment of £21.7 billion over 25 years to the construction of its first two CCS clusters, evidencing a long-term vision to decarbonise heavy industry and promote economic resilience.

Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, welcomed the achievement of financial close as a major milestone in clean energy transformation of the country. "Today we fulfill our pledge to kick off a new industry for our entire country – a clean energy sector – carbon capture and storage, to bring tens of thousands of highly skilled work and transform the life of industrial communities," he said.

The Liverpool Bay CCS project will form an integral part of the capture and long-term storage of carbon emissions from across a broad spectrum of industries such as cement manufacturing, waste-to-energy plants, and low-carbon hydrogen production. Eni, as operator of the HyNet Cluster's CO₂ transport and storage network, will utilise existing offshore platforms and 149 kilometres of subsea pipelines and build an additional 35 kilometres of new links. This network will pipe stored carbon dioxide to depleted natural gas reservoirs safely isolated below the seabed.

Phase one of the Liverpool Bay CCS system is expected to store between 4.5 million tonnes per year of CO₂, with the potential to expand to 10 million tonnes by the 2030s. Acsis. The project not only enables the decarbonisation ambitions of HyNet industrial partners but also aligns with wider national climate ambitions. The UK's singular geological advantage—up to 78 gigatonnes of prospective CO₂ storage capacity on the UK continental shelf—also places the nation at the forefront of carbon storage globally.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi highlighted the importance of this partnership, calling it a milestone in industrial-scale CCS development. "The strategic partnership with the UK Government opens the way to the industrial-scale development of CCS," he stated. "Eni reaffirms its leadership in the development of this new, highly sustainable business connected to the energy transition."

Outside the UK, Eni is making ambitious efforts to expand its global CCS capability. Eni is creating a stand-alone CCS business unit and is said to be in negotiations with investors keen to acquire minority stakes. With a global gross storage capacity of 3 billion tonnes of CO₂, Eni seeks to be a core player in the global carbon management sector.

The Liverpool Bay project demonstrates that industrial growth and climate action can coexist. Through promoting public-private partnerships, triggering big-ticket investment, and making the most of existing infrastructure, the UK is bringing its vision of a low-carbon economy into reality. As construction ramps up for 2025 and the countdown to operations in 2028 starts, the Liverpool Bay CCS project is a testament to the strength of innovation, policy alignment, and strategic foresight in the net zero journey.