Lease granted for re-use of Liverpool Bay structures for HyNet CCS
Liverpool Bay CCS (LBCCS), part of the Eni CCUS Holding group, has entered a lease with The Crown Estate for its CO₂ transportation and storage project offshore/onshore north Wales and northern England.
This allows LBCCS to access the seabed and re-deploy existing infrastructure to transport and store in Liverpool Bay carbon dioxide (CO₂) captured from local industries within the HyNet Cluster.
The project will reuse over 75 mi of pipelines, three offshore installations and an onshore treatment plant, also constructing 21 mi of new pipeline connecting the industrial emitters to the Liverpool Bay transport and storage network.
Initially, carbon dioxide will be captured from the cement, low-carbon hydrogen and energy-from-waste producers.
Phase 1 of the project – which is designed to store 109 MMmt of CO₂ over the operating lifespan – will have a storage capacity of 4.5 MMmt annually, with the potential to grow to 10 MMt/yr after 2030.
In October 2021, HyNet North West was designated a UK Government Track-1 CCUS cluster, with the Crown Estate awarding the Liverpool Bay CCS project an Agreement for Lease in August 2024.
First injection should take place in 2028.
In addition, the Crown Estate has opened a competitive tender process for a new developer to build and operate the up to 1.5GW Morgan wind farm development in the Irish Sea, which could generate up to 1.5 GW of electricity.
The location is 22.22 km from the Isle of Man and 37.13 km from the coast of north-west England
EnBW and the Jera Nex bp venture, the previous developers, opted to pull out earlier this year.
Rights could be awarded to the successful bidder by the end of this year.
Under the rising clock auction, bids forming a Site Exclusivity Fee that will only become payable to The Crown Estate once the project enters its lease period.
Although developers must bid their fee as a lump sum, it will be paid in phases over 20 years from the date the lease starts. This new approach should help de-risk the development phase of the project, the Crown Estate said.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.