enfinium announces plans for £800m investment in carbon capture project

One of the UK’s largest energy from waste operators has announced plans to lead an investment of up to £800m into carbon capture storage and technology at a site in West Yorkshire.

Set to be operational from 2030, the project, should it be successful, would provide the UK with vital carbon removals, decarbonise unrecyclable waste and generate over 90 MW of baseload, homegrown carbon negative power.

The technology is set to be installed at enfinium’s Ferrybridge 1 and 2 facility in Knottingley, West Yorkshire and aims to be in operation within the next decade.

Once it is up and running, it is estimated to capture around 1.2 million tonnes CO2 every year, including over 600,000 tonnes of durable, high-quality carbon removals. This is the equivalent to taking the carbon emissions of every household in Manchester out of the atmosphere.

Ferrybridge is the UK’s largest energy from waste site and if the project works well, it will become one of the largest carbon removal projects in Europe, accelerate regional decarbonisation in West Yorkshire and support over 200 jobs across the supply chain during the development phase.

One of the reasons this plan has been proposed is despite progress in reducing waste and increasing recycling, research has found that the UK will continue to produce around 17 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste by 2042, which would ruin plans to achieve net zero by 2030.

Against this backdrop, the proposals for enfiniums new project will be put forward for grant support from the UK government as part of the Track-1 cluster sequencing process that is due to launch this month.

Following this, planning, and consenting for the site will move forward in 2024.

Enfinium CEO Mike Maudsley said: ‘To deliver a net zero carbon economy, the UK needs to find a way to produce carbon removals, or negative emissions, at scale. Installing carbon capture at our Ferrybridge site would make it one of Europe’s biggest carbon removal projects.

‘All this while decarbonising non-recyclable waste, diverting it from climate-damaging landfill, and supporting the green economy in West Yorkshire and the wider community.’

Image: enfinium

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