Eni-Led Liverpool Bay CCS Project Installs World's First Purpose-Built Offshore CO₂ Platform in UK

Eni CCUS Holding, the joint venture between Eni and Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock, confirmed on 8 October 2026 that the Douglas CCS platform has been installed in Liverpool Bay, completing what it describes as the first offshore platform in the world purpose-built for carbon capture and storage aimed at industrial decarbonisation.

The installation is a significant step in the CO₂ transportation and storage project that underpins the HyNet industrial decarbonisation cluster in the United Kingdom.

Building the backbone of HyNet

The Liverpool Bay CCS project is structured as a CO₂ transportation and storage system serving as the backbone of the HyNet industrial decarbonisation cluster in the United Kingdom.

Its role is to take carbon dioxide captured from industrial facilities across Northwest England and North Wales and move it offshore for permanent storage. With the platform now in place, the delivery of that system has passed the halfway mark, with the overall network approximately 50% complete.

The project sits within a wider portfolio of CCS initiatives held by Eni CCUS Holding, which is pursuing the development of CO₂ transportation and storage infrastructure to enable industrial decarbonisation at scale.

In its announcement, Eni characterised carbon capture and storage as a mature and safe technological process and one of the key levers for the energy transition, describing it as currently the most efficient and effective tool for decarbonisation to support hard-to-abate industries in reducing their emissions.

How the offshore hub will work

Once operational, the Douglas CCS platform will act as the offshore hub of the Liverpool Bay transportation and storage system.

Captured CO₂ arriving from industrial emitters in Northwest England and North Wales will be received at the platform and distributed through a network of existing offshore pipelines that are being repurposed for CO₂ transport.

From there, the gas will be sent to depleted natural gas reservoirs, where it will be permanently stored. According to the company, the combination of purpose-built and repurposed infrastructure is a defining feature of Liverpool Bay CCS.

This approach allows the project to draw efficiently on existing offshore assets while also benefiting from the extensive knowledge already held of the depleted reservoirs in the area.

Rather than constructing an entirely new transport and storage chain, the project reuses what is already in the seabed around Liverpool Bay and adds purpose-built facilities where they are needed.

A fast delivery programme

The platform reached installation less than 18 months from contract award, the result of an accelerated programme that integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning into a single streamlined effort.

That timeline is notable for an offshore facility of this kind and reflects how the project was managed from award through to offshore installation. The installed structure consists of three principal elements.

The topside facilities weigh 1,885 tonnes, while the supporting jacket structure that carries them comes in at 1,755 tonnes. The platform is secured to the seabed by eight foundation piles with a combined weight of 730 tonnes, anchoring the facility in place in Liverpool Bay.

Construction progress across the network

The platform installation is one part of a broader construction programme that is progressing across the entire Liverpool Bay CCS network. That network is now approximately 50% complete, putting the project past its halfway point in physical delivery. The economic footprint of the build is substantial.

Around 60% of the overall project expenditure is being delivered through UK-based supply chains, channelling the majority of the project's spending to domestic companies. During the construction phase, the project is supporting more than 2,000 jobs.

Once operational, it is expected to sustain approximately 200 to 300 long-term roles over more than 25 years of operation, giving the UK employment base a lasting legacy beyond the current build phase.

A strategic asset for Eni's CCS portfolio

Liverpool Bay CCS is positioned by Eni CCUS Holding as a key project within its broader strategy to develop CO₂ transportation and storage infrastructure.

The joint venture, owned by Eni and Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock, has placed the transportation and storage layer of the carbon capture chain at the centre of its investment case, on the basis that industrial emitters need somewhere to send the CO₂ they capture if decarbonisation targets are to be met.

The company's framing of the technology is unambiguous.

Eni presents carbon capture and storage as a mature and safe process that already stands among the key levers of the energy transition.

In its view, CCS is currently the most efficient and effective tool available for decarbonisation, particularly for hard-to-abate industries whose emissions cannot readily be eliminated through electrification or fuel switching alone.

It is on that basis that the Liverpool Bay system has been developed to serve the industrial base of Northwest England and North Wales, where the HyNet cluster brings together multiple emitters that would otherwise lack a route to permanent CO₂ storage.

What the installation means for the project

With Douglas CCS now standing in Liverpool Bay, the project has cleared one of its most visible offshore milestones.

The platform's role as the offshore hub means it sits at the centre of the transport and storage chain: CO₂ arriving through the network of repurposed pipelines will be managed through this facility before being dispatched to the depleted reservoirs, where it will be permanently stored.

The half-completed status of the wider network indicates that remaining construction work continues across the system.

The project's delivery model, which integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning within an 18-month window for the platform, has now carried the venture from contract award to an installed, world-first facility.

As construction advances toward completion, the project continues to draw on UK supply chains for roughly 60% of its expenditure, while the operational phase ahead is set to maintain a workforce of 200 to 300 for more than 25 years.

For Eni CCUS Holding, the installation reinforces the position of Liverpool Bay CCS within its CCS portfolio and demonstrates, in the company's assessment, the role that carbon capture and storage can play as the most efficient and effective tool for supporting hard-to-abate industries in cutting their emissions.