The UK government’s recent proposal to grant carbon dioxide transport and storage licenses to Liverpool Bay CCS Limited (Hynet) and Net Zero North Sea Storage Limited—covering the East Coast Cluster around Humberside and Teesside—has been positively received by the country’s largest offshore trade group.
Offshore Energies UK welcomes these licenses, known as the Track 1 clusters, which will create the economic framework for transporting CO2 captured from industrial clusters and safely storing it in geological formations under the sea, setting the stage for final investment decisions.
This proposal represents a key step in advancing the UK’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) sector. The Track 1 clusters will lay the groundwork for scaling up CCS, a technology deemed essential by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) for achieving net zero.
Successful deployment of these clusters is critical for industrial decarbonisation, low-carbon hydrogen production, and providing low-carbon dispatchable power to meet the government’s 2030 targets. Effective CCS implementation has the potential to significantly reduce emissions while creating and safeguarding over 100,000 jobs nationwide, potentially contributing £100 billion to the economy by 2050.
The UK already possesses the key elements for CCS success, including Europe’s largest offshore CO2 storage potential, transferable expertise from the oil and gas sector, and the opportunity to repurpose existing energy infrastructure.
Commenting, Enrique Cornejo, OEUK Head of Policy said, “We urge government to ensure funding arrangements, permits and consents are in place to enable these projects to reach final investment decision. To build a competitive and future self-sustaining market, it is crucial to establish a clear funding deployment timeline for the £20bn of government support allocated to the sector, and progress Track 2 clusters at pace.”
He added, “There must also be a clear route to market for emitters and transport and storage projects outside of the Track process, which will, in turn, create a consistent pipeline of work for the supply chain. Furthermore, accelerating policies to maximise our significant storage potential is essential. This includes enabling non-pipeline transportation methods and removing barriers to enable a cross-border storage market. It is vital that the UK fully capitalise on its carbon dioxide storage capabilities which will be essential to deliver a timely, homegrown energy transition.”