HyNet – North West and North Wales low carbon cluster named as a lead project for UK Government investment

An ambitious project that will tackle industrial decarbonisation and unlock a low carbon economy for the North West and North Wales has reached an important milestone today.

HyNet North West – a major project in the region to generate, store and distribute hydrogen – has been selected as a lead project for UK Government investment.

The North West industrial cluster region stretches from Flintshire and Wrexham, through Cheshire, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester into Lancashire.

It boasts the largest concentration of advanced manufacturing and chemical production in the UK and is home to a concentration of energy-intensive users.

The project will help cut the regions CO2 emissions by 10m tonnes every year by 2030, as well as creating thousands of jobs.

HyNet was one of five clusters bidding for ‘Track One’ status in the UK Government’s Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Cluster Sequencing Process, which would allow it to start decarbonising the region by the mid 2020’s.

Greg Hands, Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, today announced to parliament that HyNet will now be taken forward as one of two ‘Track One’ projects in the UK, the other being the East Coast Cluster.

It means the infrastructure in the region will be progressed by the mid-2020s and backed by a share of the £1 billion Infrastructure Fund to support industry deploying CCUS at pace.

The move will support the rollout of hydrogen as a clean fuel for transport and for use by businesses across the North West and North Wales.

Phase one of the plan includes the development of infrastructure for capturing and storing CO₂ emissions.

It includes a pipeline to transport CO2 away from North West and North Wales industrial areas through Deeside and to store it in depleted gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay.

David Parkin, HyNet Project Director said: “We are delighted that HyNet has been selected to progress within Track 1 of the industrial decarbonisation Cluster Sequencing process.”

“HyNet is led by the demand from organisations and stakeholders across the North West of England and North Wales, who all want to reduce carbon emissions to Net Zero.”

“From as soon as 2025, the project will enable our manufacturing sector across the region to decarbonise, as well as providing the opportunity to transition the way we travel and how we heat our homes.”

“HyNet brings huge economic benefits, safeguarding existing jobs across the region and creating around 6,000 new employment opportunities to support the levelling up of the UK.”