HyNet will build the infrastructure to turn the North West of England into the world’s first low-carbon industrial cluster by 2030, producing hydrogen at Stanlow Refinery and storing captured CO₂ in depleted Liverpool Bay oil and gas fields. The UK has made strong progress decarbonising electricity, but industry, heating, and heavy transport remain stubbornly hard to clean up. The North West alone emits 6 million tonnes of CO₂ each year from factories, refineries, and cement plants. HyNet tackles this directly: it builds a full hydrogen supply chain—production, distribution, storage—and a CCUS network to handle emissions that cannot be eliminated by switching fuels. If HyNet reaches its final investment decision and is built, it will transform one of the UK’s most energy-intensive industrial regions. Hydrogen will replace fossil fuels in industrial furnaces, blend into the local gas grid, and power heavy transport. The CCUS network will capture CO₂ from major emitters like the Stanlow Refinery, Ince fertiliser plant, and Padeswood cement plant, then pipe it offshore for permanent storage. The project repurposes existing oil and gas assets to keep costs and risks low. Success would prove that full-chain hydrogen and carbon capture can decarbonise an entire industrial cluster—a model that could be replicated across the UK and globally.
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HyNet is one of the most advanced, low risk and cost-effective full chain hydrogen and CCUS industrial decarbonisation projects in the UK, which can transform the North West of the UK into the world's first low carbon industrial cluster by 2030\. The UK has passed legislation to deliver Net Zero emissions by 2050\. Significant progress has been made in the decarbonisation of power. However, less progress has been made in the decarbonisation of the 'hard to reach' sectors of the economy including industry, heat and heavy transport. The North West is one of the largest and most energy intensive industrial clusters in the UK, encompassing parts of North East Wales, Cheshire, Warrington, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester. It is home to 4 million people and generates annual industrial emissions of 6 million tonnes of CO2\. HyNet was conceived in 2016 with the objective of decarbonising the entire industrial cluster to Net Zero, directly aligning with the Industrial Clusters Mission. While industrial decarbonisation is the anchor, the project builds the infrastructure backbone for a full regional hydrogen economy. HyNet is centred in the industrial complex between Ellesmere Port and Runcorn. Bulk low carbon hydrogen production facilities will be constructed at Stanlow Refinery, providing hydrogen for industrial fuel switching, blending into the local gas network, transport and flexible power generation. A dedicated network will transport hydrogen from production to demand points and hydrogen storage assets in the Cheshire salt fields to enable supply and demand balancing. The HyNet CCUS network will provide the infrastructure to transport and store the CO2 produced as a by-product of the hydrogen production process and specific industrial sources that cannot be mitigated by fuel switching. A number of the UK's largest industrial emitters, including Stanlow Refinery, Ince Fertiliser plant and Padeswood Cement plant located in this cluster, will connect to the CCUS network. HyNet is innovative and unique in that it: * Delivers a full-chain hydrogen project, including production, distribution and storage, to decarbonise industry and to provide an infrastructure for cross-sectoral decarbonisation; * Repurposes existing oil and gas assets in Liverpool Bay for CO2 transport and storage to minimise project cost and risk. Following extensive development to date, the activities to be undertaken in this next stage will allow HyNet to enter a development programme of engineering and consenting activities which will deliver a project ready for the final investment decision.
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