UK carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS)
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-07)

How the government supports the development and deployment of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) in the UK and internationally.

What is CCUS?

Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) is a technology aimed at capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes, power plants, and other sources, preventing them from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

The captured CO2 can then be either reused in various industrial applications or stored permanently in geological formations deep underground. The CO2 is then monitored to make sure that it is stored securely.

CCUS will deliver growth whilst sustaining critical jobs in the UK’s industrial heartlands. At the same time, it will be a key contributor to energy security and provide the lowest cost pathway to Net Zero.

Professor Paul Monks explains CCUS in this video. (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uzmKXE0-O0Y)

Deep geological storage of carbon dioxide

Carbon capture is a safe technology which is underpinned by a strong regulatory framework to mitigate any potential risks. The UK’s regulatory environment is well placed to support the growth of CCUS whilst protecting the public’s safety. See more information regarding the storage of CO2. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deep-geological-storage-of-carbon-dioxide-co2-offshore-uk-containment-certainty)

The UK government’s approach to CCUS: Cluster Sequencing

The UK government recognises the pivotal role of CCUS in securing growth, achieving its climate goals and transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The government has committed to supporting the development and deployment of CCUS technologies through structured programmes and substantial investments.

The UK is home to 7 major industrial clusters, or geographic areas, which produce 50% of all UK industry emissions. The government supports CCUS development in these clusters to achieve high-impact emissions reductions, reducing risk by enabling the sector to share Transport and Storage Infrastructure.

Deployment in the first two of these clusters is called ‘Track-1’. The first 2 clusters were chosen via a process called Phase 1 launched in 2021, and are HyNet in the North West of England and North Wales, and the East Coast Cluster (ECC) in Teesside. In March 2023, the previous government announced the 8 emitter projects in ECC and HyNet which HMG would take forward to commercial negotiations to secure long-term financial support.

In July 2023, the previous government outlined the next two clusters it felt were best placed to take forward carbon capture. These were Acorn, in the North East of Scotland, and Viking in the Humber. CCUS requires significant resources, and it is right that future deployment is considered within the Spending Review. HMG continues to engage with all future projects, including Track-2 and beyond, and further decisions for future CCUS deployment will be taken in due course.

In October 2024, this government announced it had made available £21.7 billion in funding for the first CCUS projects in the UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-reignites-industrial-heartlands-10-days-out-from-the-international-investment-summit). Following this, on 10 December 2024 the Transport and Storage Network for ECC, and the project Net Zero Teesside reached financial close. This was the first time this milestone had been achieved in the UK. On 24 April 2025, the Transport and Storage Network for HyNet also reached financial close.

Further details

business models: the government has developed various business models to support the economic viability of CCUS projects, including grants, revenue support, and capital funding. Updates on the proposed commercial frameworks for Transport and Storage, power, and industrial carbon capture business models (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-capture-usage-and-storage-ccus-business-models).

legislation and regulation: the government is creating a robust legal and regulatory framework to facilitate the deployment of CCUS, including the development of network codes and economic regulation.

Recent milestones

The UK has made significant progress in advancing its CCUS initiatives, marked by several key milestones:

the Track-1 clusters (ECC and HyNet) were selected for initial deployment

the previous government published its CCUS Vision in December 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-capture-usage-and-storage-a-vision-to-establish-a-competitive-market), outlining the pathway for the sector’s development and innovation up to the mid-2030s and beyond

on 4 October 2024 the government has committed £21.7 billion over 25 years to support the CCUS clusters in the North West and North East of England (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-reignites-industrial-heartlands-10-days-out-from-the-international-investment-summit)

in December 2024, the government announced the first two projects in ECC had reached Financial Close (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-reignites-industrial-heartlands-10-days-out-from-the-international-investment-summit). Projects within the ECC cluster are set to begin construction from mid-2025 and become operational from 2028

in April 2025, the government announced that the Transport and Storage Network for HyNet reached Financial Close, meaning that both government-backed carbon capture projects have reached final investment decisions

Growth of UK – Supply chains, skills and innovation
- it is the government’s objective to build a strong and sustainable UK CCUS supply chains. CCUS will be essential to the green economy with potentially significant growth opportunities for the UK. A strong UK CCUS sector will support well paid, highly-skilled jobs across the UK, with DESNZ analysis showing CCUS has the potential to generate £4-5 billion GVA per year and support 50,000 jobs in the 2030s across the CCUS industry as the sector matures
- with the UK being a leading player in CCUS deployment and having a strong innovation base, there is an opportunity for UK supply chains to develop new capabilities and secure a substantial global market share for CCUS technologies
- ultimately, the government is committed to working with industry with the aim of enhancing the capability, capacity and visibility of the UK CCUS supply chain, to realise the significant growth and job opportunities presented to the UK
Innovation

Innovation Funding

Since 2004, HMG has spent over £371 million supporting CCUS Innovation Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) projects.

Through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/net-zero-innovation-portfolio), £20 million of government funding has been invested in CCUS projects through the CCUS Innovation 2.0 programme (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/carbon-capture-usage-and-storage-ccus-innovation-20-programme). The goal of this programme is to fund innovation projects for technologies that have the potential to bring down the cost of capturing, using and storing CO2, and helping industry to understand the opportunity for developing and deploying next generation carbon capture technologies from 2025.

As part of an international initiative ran by the Research Council of Norway, the Accelerating CCUS Technologies 3 (ACT-3) programme was awarded £5 million (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accelerating-carbon-capture-and-storage-technologies-act-3-grant-funding-winners) to fund a diverse range of research projects and lab demonstration studies to assist industry to accelerate CCUS deployment and commercialisation, post project completion.

The government has also committed to over £100 million in research and innovation for Carbon Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removals, including the £60 million Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Innovation Programme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-air-capture-and-greenhouse-gas-removal-innovation-programme-selected-projects). This supports the development of First of a Kind (FOAK) demonstrators across DAC, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture (BECC), Biochar and Direct Ocean Capture. Phase 2 of the competition was announced in July 2022, with over £49 million of government funding awarded across 14 of the most promising demonstration projects.

Knowledge collected from UK carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects

The international CCUS community shares key results and lessons learned (key knowledge deliverables (KKDs)) on large-scale CCUS projects, to:
- help accelerate CCUS cost reduction
- benefit academia and the CCUS industry
- raise the public profile of CCUS
The UK first contributed to this international collaboration by publishing the KKDs from the front-end engineering design (FEED) studies (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/carbon-capture-and-storage-knowledge-sharing) in 2012 and 2015, conducted on the Kingsnorth, Longannet, Peterhead and White Rose CCUS projects.

International

International collaboration will be essential to driving global deployment of CCUS to reach Net Zero. The UK government is committed to close collaboration with international partners to overcome the challenges of CCUS deployment in both bilateral and multilateral forums.

Multilaterally, the UK is co-lead of the Carbon Management Challenge (CMC) (https://www.carbonmanagementchallenge.org/) alongside Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Kenya and the US. The Carbon Management Challenge (CMC) is a multilateral initiative launched at COP28, with aims to advance global carbon management projects with the ambitious target of collectively managing 1Gt of CO2 annually by 2030.

The UK is also a co-lead of the Clean Energy Ministerial – CCUS initiative (https://www.cleanenergyministerial.org/initiatives-campaigns/carbon-capture-utilization-and-storage/) alongside Norway, Brazil, the US and Saudi Arabia. This initiative is aimed at accelerating CCUS as a viable CO2 mitigation option, facilitate diffusion of knowledge on technologies, regulations, and policies, and lead to strategic partnerships to accelerate both near and longer-term investment in CCUS.

The UK is a member of the IEAGHG, which is a technology collaboration programme of the IEA which shares knowledge to advance the research, development and commercialisation of CCUS and carbon dioxide removals.

International collaboration in these forums will be essential in driving forward deployment of CCUS globally and meeting the UK’s climate change commitments.