Carbon Capture, Usage & Storage technology (CCUS)

HyNet offers a low cost, practical and timely option for the UK’s first CCUS deployment through the re-use the Liverpool Bay oil and gas fields and related infrastructure.

It is a deliverable route to meet the UK Government’s ambition to deploy CCUS at scale in the UK during the 2030s as set out in the Clean Growth Strategy 2017. This position is supported by the UK Committee on Climate Change.

Liverpool Bay offers a highly pragmatic option for CCUS at reduced cost, as preferred by the Government-supported CCUS Cost Reduction Task Force.

The site, owned by ENI, has an estimated CO₂ storage capacity of 130 million tonnes, and gas extraction is likely to cease within the required project timeframe. Re-use of the site is a desirable, low cost option for CCUS for several reasons:-

• it would avoid or postpone substantial decommissioning costs for the fields to be paid by government and industry;
• it is closer to the shore compared to other potential CCS locations, which reduces costs;
• early technical collaboration can maximise the value from re-use of infrastructure (e.g. pipeline and rigs).

Greater CO₂ storage (up to 1 billion tonnes) is readily available in the wider area at the Morecambe Bay gas fields, which provide a long-term option for significant extension of the infrastructure by 2030. This resource could be used by other industry, power generators and in the production of low carbon transport fuels.