Road closures expected as pipeline project begins construction this summer

Hynet – the pipeline which will transport captured industrial carbon dioxide through a north Wales county to be stored in the Irish Sea – will begin construction this August.

Plans have been submitted to Flintshire’s Planning Department to begin work in Mancot this summer, with major roadworks planned on Chester Road East between Glendale Avenue and Mancot Lane.

The work area – section four of the proposed pipeline – will see underground pipework laid to carry gas up through Aston Hill, where there will be a 35mx30m maintenance valve station where the pipeline can be shut down for essential works.

Road closures

Over the following 17 months there will be a number of road closures or lane restrictions as works progress, although specific times have yet been published for when those will be in place.

After the initial works in Mancot contractors will run the pipeline back across the River Dee and over the border with England towards Mollington as it heads for the industrial areas of Ellesmere Port and Runcorn where manufacturers and heavy industry will capture carbon dioxide emissions and feed them into the pipeline.

There will also be a spur to transport carbon from Heidelberg Material UK’s Padeswood cement site.

Carbon capture

Construction crews will simultaneously continue works in the opposite direction through Aston Hill and Ewloe, along the edge of Northop Hall and turning towards Flint Mountain where it will connect to an existing pipeline, sending carbon dioxide all the way to Point of Ayr Gas Terminal in Talacre.

From there it will send carbon dioxide to a platform in the Douglas oil and gas field in the Irish Sea where it will be pumped into depleted oil and gas reservoirs rather than released into the atmosphere.

The pipeline will capture 109 million tonnes of carbon over 25 years during phase one of operation – equivalent to taking 60.1 million cars off the road for a year.

Alongside carbon capture, Hynet will also operate a hydrogen fuel generation service for industry. This will initially operate only in Cheshire, but will be extended into Flintshire in a later phase of the project.

In total Hynet is projected to create 6,000 jobs across North Wales and the North West of England and attract around £5.5 billion in investment to the area.