Two Major Carbon Capture Projects Prepare for Construction

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26 September 2025

Two pioneering carbon capture projects in North Wales and North West England have signed final contracts with the UK government.

Padeswood in Flintshire, North Wales, will be the UK’s first carbon capture-enabled cement plant, whilst Protos in Ellesmere Port will be one of the world’s first full-scale carbon capture-enabled waste-to-energy facilities.

The government states that both projects will remove 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. 

The projects are part of Eni’s Liverpool Bay Transportation & Storage network, part of the HyNet carbon capture cluster. CO₂ will be captured and transported via the HyNet network to Eni’s permanent storage in Liverpool Bay.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks has called the projects “trailblazing” and an opportunity to “showcase North Wales and the North West’s workforce on the global stage.”

Both schemes are expected to move into the construction phase shortly.

What is Carbon Capture?

Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) is a process that captures CO2 emissions from industrial processes and power plants, preventing them from entering the atmosphere, where they contribute to climate change. Captured CO2 is compressed and then transported, typically by pipeline or ship, to a storage location. It is then stored dee under the seabed, preventing the CO2 from entering the atmosphere. 

The CO2 itself is stored in porous rocks that act as a sponge, covered by layers of trapping mechanisms such as impermeable “caprock.” According to the North Sea Transition Authority, the North Sea has the potential to store up to 78 GT of CO2  in a combination of depleted oil and gas reservoirs and natural saline aquifers – equivalent to centuries worth of UK emissions.

Climate groups such as Greenpeace have expressed concern that CCUS could be used as an excuse to halt progress on reducing emissions and greenwash continued fossil fuel use. 

Picture: a photograph showing three people wearing hard hats and hi-vis PPE. Image Credit: Heidelberg Materials UK

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 26 September 2025

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