UK energy consultancy Penspen has won a multi-million-pound contract from United Living Infrastucture Services to carry out the engineering design for the HyNet CO2 pipeline at Liverpool Bay, UK.
Penspen will lead the engineering phase for the onshore CO2 pipelines in the north-west of England cluster, as well as above ground installations which will transport captured carbon emissions from local industrial emitters to the Liverpool Bay CCS storage facility at Point of Ayr.
CO₂ will be transported through a combination of new assets and repurposed infrastructure.
Penspen’s engineering specialists will deliver the project from a dedicated office in central London, with 20 staff having been newly recruited for the work.
The project will also be supported by engineering disciplines from Penspen’s Aberdeen office, which has seen significant growth in the last six months.
Darren Bartlett, Director – Energy Transition at Penspen, said, “The HyNet North West project will be transformational for the UK’s energy network … [T]he development of this carbon capture facility will be critical in driving progress towards a cleaner energy future.”
Following the announcement of UK government funding in October 2024, the HyNet project will implement carbon capture and storage and low carbon hydrogen infrastructure at large scale, utilising a hydrogen production plant, a hydrogen transport network and hydrogen storage, with carbon emissions captured and permanently stored in depleted hydrocarbon fields in the Irish Sea. Eni reached financial close on the CCS project last month.
The HyNet Project Map ©HyNet
The new pipelines will run from the Ince Facility in the north-west of England, to the Point of Ayr Terminal on the north coast of Wales, via the Stanlow Refinery.
The line will transport CO2 to be stored in depleted gas reservoirs up to 1km below the seabed in Liverpool Bay.
The route will also feature six block valve stations along the way, as well as five above-ground installations accommodating the new CO2 network.
Once operational, HyNet will have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 10 million tonnes a year by the 2030s.
