The UK government has announced a €26.3 billion investment to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in northern England. This funding will subsidize three key projects, including one at Heidelberg Materials’ Padeswood cement plant, and will support infrastructure for transporting and storing CO2 in Liverpool Bay and the North Sea. Additionally, the initiative aims to establish the UK’s first large-scale hydrogen production plant.
Promised over the next 25 years, the funding is set to create thousands of jobs, attract €9.5 billion in private investment, and help advance the UK’s climate goals by establishing two carbon capture clusters in Merseyside and Teesside.
Simon Willis, CEO, Heidelberg Materials UK, praised the government’s announcement, stating it marks a significant step in decarbonising UK industry and sets the construction sector on a path to net zero. The investment accelerates plans for a CCS plant at the Padeswood cement works, moving closer to producing zero-carbon cement by the end of the decade.