A Development Consent Order (DCO) has been issued by the UK Government for a project concerning the development of pipeline transport. This new project will be developed for use within the HyNet cluster.

Being granted the DCO will allow the project to enter the next phase of its development and it will also cover the construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure. The pipeline is being built in order to enable the transport of Co2 as part of the HyNet cluster, in which Eni is the transportation and storage operator. This DCO is the first Anglo-Welsh cross border application that has been granted by the DESNZ, which has been made for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP)

The purpose of this HyNet Co2 pipeline will be to transport the carbon dioxide produced from capture plants throughout the North West of England and North Wales. The new and repurposed infrastructure will be designed to be a safe and permanent storage place, within Eni’s depleted natural gas reservoirs, which are located in Liverpool Bay under the seabed.

This development is a very significant project as it highlights the successful completion of an 18-month long determination process which follows Eni’s submission of the DCO application that was put through in October 2022. This DCO brings the HyNet CCS cluster much closer to the execution phase and now the final investment decision (FID) is expected to go through by September 2024.

Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, said, “We see the UK as an attractive destination for Eni’s investments, particularly in the area of decarbonisation. We welcome the UK Government’s ambition to promote and develop the kind of groundbreaking projects we need to address climate change, especially within hard-to-abate sectors. 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 and consolidates the Eni’s leading position providing a service to decarbonise both its own and third parties' industrial activities at a competitive cost and with a fast time to market. This position was further reinforced following our acquisition of Neptune Energy, which gives Eni access to three additional CO2 storage licences for a total gross storage capacity of about 1GT in the UK.”

The company commented that, ‘Eni also leads the Bacton Thames Net Zero project, which is looking to decarbonise the South East of England and Thames region. Eni’s transportation and storage system at HyNet will have a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year in the first phase, with the potential to increase to up to ten million tonnes of CO2 per year after 2030 making HyNet a major contributor to the UK’s target of decarbonisation and CO2 storage. It will transform one of the country’s most energy intensive industrial regions into one of the world’s first low-carbon industrial clusters. The project will help preserve local jobs by supporting the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, as well as attracting investment and creating new jobs.’

The company also commented, ‘The UK Government’s decision to grant a DCO to the HyNet CO2 pipeline is an important milestone to allow for the world’s first asset-based regulated CCS business.’