AN Ellesmere Port refinery is teaming up with a global energy firm as part of a major carbon dioxide transport and storage scheme.

Stanlow Terminals Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eni UK Ltd, the UK arm of the global energy company, to explore the development of CO2 collection, shipping, and storage at the Stanlow Terminal.

That CO2 would then be delivered into Eni UK’s carbon transport and storage infrastructures currently being developed in the North West.

Stanlow Terminals and Eni UK are to evaluate opportunities to establish an open-access CO2 transport and storage terminal which will be capable of receiving, gathering and storing CO2 from industrial emitters and other sources via shipping from dispersed locations.

The objective is ultimately to connect multiple emitters with Eni UK’s licensed storage location through an open access system, facilitating the future sequestration of substantial volumes of CO2.

Developing CO2 ship transportation will play a significant role in the expansion of CCS infrastructure, by offering feasible and flexible routes between sources and storage sites. The infrastructure would provide many more industrial companies the opportunity to transport captured CO2 for storage in depleted gas fields.

The agreement follows Stanlow Terminal’s announcement of plans to also develop open access green ammonia facilities on the River Mersey, supporting the ambition of Essar Energy Transition (EET) to become Europe’s leading integrated energy transition hub.

Stanlow Terminals is part of EET. Launched in February, EET is investing US$3.6 billion (£2.83 billion) in developing a range of low carbon energy transition projects over the next five years, of which US$2.4 billion (£1.89 billion) will be invested at its sites in the North West.

EET will include Essar Oil UK, the company’s refining and marketing business in the North West; Vertex Hydrogen, which is developing 1 gigawatt (GW) of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 3.8GW; EET Hydrogen India, which is developing 1 GW of green ammonia in India, targeted at UK and international markets; Stanlow Terminals Ltd, which is developing enabling storage and pipeline infrastructure; and EET Biofuels, which is investing in developing 1 metric ton of low carbon biofuels.

Eni UK is leading the development of carbon dioxide transport and storage for the HyNet North West consortium in the North West. Eni UK has developed extensive experience in reservoir management over many decades and intends to apply its skills to repurpose part of its existing upstream assets to store carbon dioxide in depleted fields in Liverpool Bay.