Saltend Chemicals Park has been chosen as a the site of a new CO2 export facility that will bring tens of millions of pounds in investment.
The Humber Bank location, owned and operated by Stockton-based PX Group, will host 32 CO2 storage tanks as part of a project by Future Biogas to store 200,000 tonnes of liquified CO2 each year by mid-2025.
Future Biogas will transport liquified CO2 by-product from its anaerobic digestion plants and bio-energy facilities around the UK to Saltend, where it will be temporarily stored before being moved on to Northern Lights Carbon Capture and Underground Storage project (CCUS) which is supported by the Norwegian Government and currently under construction.
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PX Group said it will be involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure at the park, and potentially the storage facility itself.
Future Biogas said it had chosen Saltend for its role in UK decarbonisation, following news it would host Equinor's H2H hydrogen production plant, the flagship project of the Zero Carbon Humber initiative.
Saltend's facilities including its deepwater jetty, allowing access to shipping via the Humber, were also highlighted by the firm, with the region highlighted as the ideal location when plans were first unveiled last summer.
Geoff Holmes, chief executive of PX Group: “Today marks another significant milestone at Saltend with this major investment from Future Biogas, a company that itself is investing in this and other projects with a negative carbon footprint and quickening the country’s journey to Net Zero.”
Garry Gibbon, group commercial manager, who oversaw the partnership with Future Biogas, added: “Once again we have seen our commitment to top-class infrastructure at Saltend reap rewards. The development of Future Biogas is testament to the facilities and expertise on site.”
Philipp Lukas, Future Biogas chief executive, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the team at Saltend, which will become an integral part of the Carbon Capture and Storage supply chain. The environment at Saltend is ideal - the park has fantastic facilities, experienced people, and infrastructure which will support early exports to ‘Northern Lights’ whilst being complementary to Zero Carbon Humber in the future.
“We are looking forward to 2025 when the first deliveries of green-CO2 removed from the atmosphere roll into Saltend for onward transportation to permanent sequestration.”
Future Biogas said the process would be carbon negative as its anaerobic digestion facilities use energy crops from a regenerative farming system. Biomethane from the plants is fed into the National Gas Grid's network for domestic and commercial use, and the CO2 by-product is captured, liquified and transported for storage or onward transportation and geological sequestration - the process of storage in rocks.
