Energy giant Eni secures £2bn UK Government financial backing to begin construction of network that will capture CO2 from hydrogen production next to the Mersey and store it under Liverpool Bay. Tony McDonough reports

Italian energy giant Eni is to begin construction of its carbon capture and storage network next to the River Mersey and under Liverpool Bay.

Eni is part of the HyNet consortium which is building a multi-billion pound hydrogen production hub at the Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port. Hydrogen will be produced by burning natural gas and supplied as ‘clean energy’ to factories across the North West.

But instead of being released into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, the CO2 that is emitted will be captured, stored and then sent by pipeline to Liverpool Bay where it will be stored indefinitely in porous rock in depleted gas fields.

This method of production is known as ‘blue hydrogen’. Critics claim carbon capture and storage (CCS) is unlikely to work at this scale and will not achieve the 95% capture rate required to meet stringent Government rules.

They say it is just a ruse to prolong the use of fossil fuels. However, HyNet insists the project will produce clean energy when it is switched on in 2027.

EET Hydrogen a division of oil giant Essar which operates the Stanlow refinery at Ellesmere Port, is building the hydrogen production hub. It is also building a parallel facility that aims to decarbonise the activities of the refinery itself.

In October 2024, the Government offered £22bn to be shared between HyNet and a similar project in the North East of England. This investment will be spread over 25 years.

In April EET said it had secured hydrogen supply agreements with more than 30 North West businesses in the industrial, power, and transport sectors.

Phase one of the project – HPP1 – will see the construction of a hydrogen plant that will have a production capacity of 350MW and will capture around 600,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. HPP2 will follow later and will add a further 700MW of production capacity.

It is claimed 1,000 MW is enough energy to power a city the size of Liverpool, capturing up to 1.8m tonnes of CO2 per year (the equivalent of taking around 700,000 cars off the road).

READ MORE: HyNet hydrogen & CCS… everything you need to know

This week Eni said it had agreed a deal, worth £2bn, with the UK Government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero for the Liverpool Bay CCS project unlocking key investments in supply chain contracts

This will allow the company to move into the construction phase which it says will create around 2,000 jobs. The project will see the repurposing of part of the offshore platforms as well as 149km of onshore and offshore pipelines and of 35km of new pipelines.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Its potential as a clean source of fuel is immense. The snag is it has to be separated from other elements and that is an energy-intensive process, however you do it.

HyNet is also conducting small pilot schemes to produce ‘green hydrogen’. This uses electricity produced from a renewable source, such as wind or solar, which is then fed through a machine called an electrolyzer. This separates the hydrogen atoms out in water.

From a climate change point of view this is the optimal method for producing hydrogen. However, while its development is progressing, it is a long way from being available or affordable at scale. HyNet’s argument is that ‘blue’ is scalable now.

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said: “The strategic agreement with the UK Government paves the way for the industrial-scale development of CCS,.

“Eni has established itself as a leading operator in the UK thanks to its key role in CO2 transport and storage activities as the leader of the HyNet Consortium, which will become one of the first low-carbon clusters in the world.

“CCS will play a crucial role in tackling the decarbonisation challenge by safely eliminating CO2 emissions from industries that currently do not have equally efficient and effective solutions.”

Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington’s chief executive, Philip Cox, also said: “This is a really important milestone and moving to the construction phrase will not only unlock thousands of local jobs but further enhance the region’s collective efforts to make Cheshire and Warrington the healthiest, most sustainable, inclusive and growing economy in the UK.”