Carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) will be essential for the UK to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Stanlow Terminals is developing the UK’s first CO2 import terminal which will play a significant role in the expansion of CCUS infrastructure, allowing UK industrial capture projects to transport CO2 emissions to be permanently stored.

Arriving by road, rail and water at Stanlow Terminals facility on the River Mersey, the CO₂ will be delivered into Eni’s transport and storage infrastructure currently being developed in the UK’s North West. Part of plans to transform one of the country’s most energy intensive industrial districts into the first low carbon industrial cluster in the world, the CO₂ will be permanently stored in depleted fields in the Liverpool Bay. Set to capture up to 2 million tonnes a year of CO₂ by 2028 and 5 million tonnes a year by 2030, this is the energy transition in action

Key benefits

• Capturing up to 2 million tonnes a year of CO₂ by 2028 and 5 million tonnes a year by 2030
• The equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road by 2030
• Connecting multiple CO₂ emitters from across the UK with Eni’s licensed storage facility
• Unlocking economic opportunities for the North West with £100 million investment and creation of jobs
• Helping the UK to achieve its net zero targets by decarbonising industrial activities quickly and at a competitive cost
• Reducing the cost and increasing the flexibility of early CCUS projects
• Increasing the UK’s competitiveness by reducing industrial emissions and securing export markets

Timeline

2023

Feasibility

2024

Front end engineering and design (FEED)

2026

Final investment decision (FID)

2028

Phase 1 operational (up to 2 million tonnes)

2030’s

Phase 2 operational (up to 5 million tonnes)

Connecting the UK to CO₂ storage

The UK Government Ten Point Green Industrial Revolution Plan set the ambition to capture 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2030, the equivalent of 4 million cars’ worth of annual emissions.

Eni is set to become the first operator to store carbon in the UK as part of the HyNet North West consortium. Identified as one of the nation’s first two carbon capture clusters by Government, it will lock away the carbon dioxide emitted by heavy industry in the region. Eni will repurpose part of its existing upstream assets to store CO₂ in depleted fields in Liverpool Bay.

Developing a CO₂ import terminal at Stanlow Terminals will enable more industrial emitters to connect into Eni’s transport and storage infrastructure, helping the UK to achieve its net zero targets by decarbonising industrial activities at pace.

What is carbon capture and storage?

CCUS technology captures carbon dioxide from power generation, low carbon hydrogen production and industrial processes, storing it deep underground where it cannot enter the atmosphere.

This technology is globally necessary, and the UK has an unrivalled asset – our North Sea, that can be used to store captured carbon under the seabed.

Once the CO₂ is captured from its source, it will be liquefied and transported by custom designed ships to the new CO₂ facility at Stanlow Terminals. It will then be safely transported via an underground pipeline and securely stored in depleted gas reservoirs under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

The Liverpool Bay CO₂ store will be up to 1km below the seabed and approximately 32km offshore. Once there, emissions will remain underground indefinitely, covered by a dense layer of shale. Carbon capture and storage is a well-established, safe technology.  It has been used safely for over 40 years around the globe.