The UK has awarded 14 companies 21 carbon capture and storage licences in oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers in the North Sea and East Irish Sea, spanning 12,000 km².

The locations could store up to 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, approximately 10 per cent of the UK’s annual emissions, which amounted to 341.5m tonnes of CO2 in 2021.

Shell, Perenco and Eni have all been awarded licences off the coast of Norfolk in sites that could form part of the Bacton Energy Hub. This would be a carbon storage, hydrogen and offshore wind project that could provide low-carbon energy for London and the south-east “for decades to come and help in the drive to net zero greenhouse gas emissions,” according to the NSTA. 

Other locations are at sites off the coasts of Aberdeen, Teesside and Liverpool.  

“Carbon storage will play a crucial role in the energy transition, storing carbon dioxide deep under the seabed and playing a key role in hydrogen production...