Carbon capture and storage: from the partnership with the UK government to the Ravenna project – how Eni is accelerating decarbonisation

As regards the use of CO₂, Eni is developing mineralisation technology, which is based on the reaction between CO₂ and certain mineral phases, primarily magnesium and/or calcium silicates. This reaction, which occurs spontaneously in nature but over ‘geological’ timescales, has attracted the interest of the academic world and other companies, and forms the basis of industrial processes capable of permanently sequestering large quantities of CO₂ in the form of inert, stable and non-toxic products. The group has also developed bespoke technologies for continuous monitoring during and after the injection of CO₂ into the reservoir: the solution designed for this purpose is a single multifunctional robot comprising a network of mobile sensors mounted on aerial drones, ground-based drones and minimally invasive fixed sensors positioned at monitoring points inaccessible to the drone, as well as underwater technologies.

By pooling the work carried out across multiple strands, Eni has therefore developed a distinctive CCS model based on three key elements: its extensive portfolio of depleted gas fields, the reuse of some of the existing infrastructure, and the location of the assets close to industrial clusters. This framework forms the basis of the Liverpool Bay Transportation and Storage (LB T&S) project, situated in the North West of England and North Wales (where, together with the emitters, this is referred to as the HyNet North West Cluster), which involves the reuse of some existing infrastructure, the use of depleted gas fields operated by Eni, and the construction of new facilities to enable the transport of CO₂ captured from emitters selected by the government and its subsequent offshore storage.

The project, which will be developed in phases, will have an initial CO₂ injection capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per year and will enable the storage of approximately 110 million tonnes over a period of 25 years, in the first phase alone. The total storage potential of the reservoirs is approximately 200 million tonnes of CO2. Eni finalised the financial arrangements with the UK government regarding the LB T&S project last April and has now entered the implementation phase. The project is expected to be operational by 2028, in line with the emitters’ timeline.

Eni’s transport and storage (T&S) system in Liverpool Bay will transport and store emissions captured from a wide range of industries, including those involved in cement production, waste-to-energy and low-carbon hydrogen production. The UK government has currently selected the following emitters to be connected to Eni’s T&S network: two waste-to-energy plants (Viridor and Encyclis); a cement plant (Heidelberg Materials); and a low-carbon hydrogen plant (developed by EET Hydrogen).

The UK authorities have identified further emitters; the selection process is expected to be completed by 2025. LB T&S will not only help to secure local employment by supporting the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, but will also be able to maintain the country’s industrial competitiveness in the long term by creating new production chains and jobs. This is all thanks to the UK’s strategy: it was one of the first countries to establish a regulatory framework designed to encourage the development of CCS projects through a regulated business model that aims to promote ‘clusters’ involving industrial emitters and CO₂ transport and storage operators.

In addition to the LB T&S project, Eni has been granted a second licence by the UK government for carbon dioxide storage at the depleted Hewett gas field (Bacton CCS Cluster), located in the southern part of the UK North Sea. Hewett, with a total storage capacity of over 300 million tonnes, is an ideal site for the permanent storage of CO₂ from industries in south-east England, East Anglia and the Thames Estuary area near London, as well as attracting CO₂ streams from the European Union, thereby offering a cost-effective solution for European emitters thanks to its geographical proximity to north-western Europe. In the initial phase, the injection capacity at the Hewett reservoir could reach 5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, rising to around 10 million tonnes in the subsequent expansion phase.

Eni’s CCS portfolio also extends beyond the United Kingdom. In Italia, phase 1 of the Ravenna CCS project, developed jointly with Snam through a 50-50 joint venture, was launched in August 2024, just 18 months after the final investment decision (FID). The project, the first of its kind in Italia, is divided into several phases, starting with the capture of around 20,000 tonnes per year of CO₂ from Eni’s natural gas processing plant at Casalborsetti, near Ravenna, through to its transport and storage in the depleted gas field at Porto Corsini Mare Ovest, operated by Eni in the offshore Adriatic. The third distinctive feature of the project is that the capture plant is powered by recovered self-generated thermal energy and electricity from renewable sources, with the result that the volume of CO₂ captured effectively corresponds to the amount reduced.

The project envisages a Phase 2 on a larger industrial scale, with a CO₂ capture and storage capacity of 4 million tonnes per year by 2030, with growth projected in subsequent years to reach 16 million tonnes per year, depending on market demand and thanks to the total storage capacity of the depleted gas fields in the Adriatic, currently estimated at over 500 million tonnes.

This represents considerable potential, therefore. It is no coincidence that the Ravenna CCS project has been included in the European list of Projects of Community Interest (PCI projects) as a CO₂ transport and storage facility, as part of the integrated Callisto (Carbon Liquefaction, Transportation and Storage) Mediterranean CO₂ Network, which, in addition to Italian emitters, also involves emitters from the industrial area of Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille, in France.

Beyond national borders, the group is also developing the L-10 CCS project in the Netherlands, a project of Community interest which, in February 2025, secured CEF (Connecting European Facilities) funding of 55 million euros to cover part of the development costs. With CO₂ injection scheduled to begin by 2030, at a rate of 5 MTPA and with a total storage capacity of around 100 million tonnes, this makes it one of the flagship projects for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries in north-western Europe. However, Eni’s activities are also extending beyond that area: the group is in fact exploring new opportunities in the North Sea, North Africa and the Far East.