Contracts signed for two UK carbon capture projects

The UK government announced that two carbon capture projects — Padeswood (Heidelberg Materials UK) and Protos (Encyclis) — have signed final contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company and are ready to begin construction.

• Main announcement and actions: The projects have signed final contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company and are expected to move into the construction phase shortly, together securing 500 skilled jobs (part of 2,800 jobs across the wider HyNet network). Padeswood (cement) will capture ~800,000 tonnes CO2/year and Protos (waste-to-energy) will capture ~400,000 tonnes CO2/year, totaling 1.2 million tonnes CO2/year. Both projects will connect to Eni’s Liverpool Bay Transportation & Storage as anchor projects of the HyNet cluster.
• Background, financing and timelines: The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s April green-light for HyNet and the government’s £9.4 billion commitment to Carbon Capture made in the Spending Review (funding stated over this Parliament). The projects are positioned as shovel-ready, with contracts now in place to provide certainty to proceed; Padeswood will deploy capture at the existing cement works to produce evoZero net zero cement, and Protos is described as a first full-scale carbon capture-enabled waste-to-energy facility.