Led by Durham University and supported by industry giant Eni S.p.A., a pioneering partnership aims to accelerate the UK’s heavy industry decarbonisation by exploring innovative subsurface energy solutions across the North-West, North Wales, and the Irish Sea Basin.
Led by Durham University and backed by significant industry investment from Eni S.p.A., a new geoenergy research partnership will probe subsurface options for decarbonising heavy industry across the North‑West of England, North Wales and the East Irish Sea Basin, aiming to accelerate the region’s transition to low‑carbon energy.
According to the original report from Durham and partner universities, the consortium brings together geoscientists, engineers and social scientists from Durham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester and Royal Holloway, and will focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen storage, CO2‑plume geothermal and deep geothermal technologies. The programme will create up to 14 PhD studentships and several postdoctoral posts over the next three and a half years, supported by a bespoke multidisciplinary training programme at Durham Energy Institute.
The project is explicitly aligned with the HyNet North‑West industrial cluster, where Eni is the operator of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. Eni’s involvement will fund assessment of regional geo‑energy resources and the development of plans for a sustainable, low‑carbon geo‑energy sector. The announcement emphasised the role of academia–industry collaboration in providing the training and research required for “the safe, responsible, and scalable development of subsurface energy.”
“For a secure, low‑carbon energy system, the UK will need to draw on a diverse range of technologies. Newcastle University is pleased to work with Durham, our university partners and Eni S.p.A. to advance the geoscience and engineering needed to deliver carbon capture and storage, geothermal energy and hydrogen storage projects. This partnership demonstrates the value of academia–industry collaboration in providing the training and research required for the safe, responsible, and scalable development of subsurface energy,” Dr Mark Ireland, Senior Lecturer in Energy Geoscience and Associate Director Research and Innovation at Newcastle University, said in the university statement.
Professor Stuart Jones, Co‑director of Durham Energy Institute and leader of the programme, said the region “hosts significant geological resources that can be used to facilitate the energy transition in the UK, underpin regional and national energy security, and provide a sustainable energy future for the area, when combined with renewable energy resources such as wind and solar.” He highlighted a wide set of subsurface options , from geothermal heat and hydrogen storage to CO2 and compressed‑air storage , and framed the work as seeking to integrate surface and subsurface processes and “reuse associated by‑products” to minimise environmental impact.
The Durham announcement stresses an integrated research agenda: technical characterisation of reservoirs and storage integrity, engineering pathways for deploying subsurface systems at scale, and social‑economic analysis of implications for communities and regional industry. A dedicated Durham PhD will examine social and economic impacts of geoenergy innovations, reflecting an intent to combine technical and socio‑economic evidence as part of energy system planning.
Eni’s public materials and prior statements position HyNet as a core UK CCS initiative that will capture and store CO2 from hard‑to‑decarbonise plants in the North‑West and North Wales, transporting it to depleted offshore reservoirs in Liverpool Bay. The company has previously described an initial transportation and storage capacity in the order of millions of tonnes per year , with public communications citing first‑phase injection rates around 4.5 million tonnes per year and the potential to scale towards roughly 10 million tonnes per year by 2030 , and has framed HyNet as a contributor to UK net‑zero ambitions while preserving local industrial employment. The company said in earlier releases that its Liverpool Bay assets would be used to store CO2 captured by the cluster.
While the research team emphasises creating a regional model for low‑carbon industrial transformation, the announcement maintains a degree of distance from commercial and policy commitments: the partnership will assess resources and develop plans rather than deliver the full commercial systems itself. Professor Jon Gluyas, Chair of Geoenergy and Carbon Capture and Storage at Durham University, said: “This project brings together the best in academia and industry to create opportunities for UK energy security, sustainability and affordability – new energy industries delivering jobs, growth and social inclusion.”
For business audiences involved in industrial decarbonisation, the partnership delivers several immediate points of interest: an upstream pipeline of trained researchers and engineers tailored to subsurface energy applications; an applied research agenda aligned with an operating CCS cluster; and focused technical work likely to produce regional resource maps, storage integrity assessments and engineering case studies that could de‑risk investment decisions for industrial CO2 capture, hydrogen projects and geothermal deployment.
Industry data and previous HyNet publications indicate the region hosts both significant industrial CO2 emitters and geological storage potential in nearby offshore fields. The consortium’s stated aim to integrate subsurface energy with renewables and to explore commercial uses for by‑products could inform industrial strategies that seek to combine CCS, hydrogen and heat networks to preserve manufacturing competitiveness while cutting emissions.
The partnership is presented as a three‑and‑a‑half‑year programme of research and training. The company’s and universities’ statements together position the initiative as a practical research pathway supporting regional decarbonisation, while also recognising that delivery of large‑scale CCS and subsurface energy systems will depend on parallel commercial investment, regulatory approvals and long‑term policy support.
- https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2025/12/geoenergyresearch/ – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2025/12/geoenergyresearch/ – Newcastle University announced a new geoenergy research partnership led by Durham University, involving Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, and Royal Holloway universities. Supported by Eni S.p.A., the project aims to advance geoenergy research and support the decarbonisation of the North-West of England and North Wales. The collaboration focuses on reducing regional CO₂ emissions by capturing and safely storing CO₂ from hard-to-decarbonise heavy industries. The initiative underscores the importance of academia–industry collaboration in developing subsurface energy solutions.
- https://www.eni.com/en-IT/actions/global-activities/united-kingdom/hynet.html – Eni S.p.A. is leading the HyNet North West project, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative in Liverpool Bay, UK. The project aims to capture CO₂ emissions from industrial plants in the North West of England and North Wales, transporting and storing them in depleted gas fields in the Irish Sea. This initiative is part of the UK’s strategy to decarbonise heavy industries and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, positioning the region as one of the world’s first low-emission industrial clusters.
- https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-release/2024/06/eni-welcomes-visit-of-a-joint-delegation-from-italy-and-the-european-union-to-the-hynet-north-west-industrial-cluster.html – Eni welcomed a joint delegation from Italy and the European Union to the HyNet North West industrial cluster. The visit highlighted the project’s role in preserving local jobs by supporting the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, thereby maintaining the UK’s long-term industrial competitiveness. Eni’s CO₂ transport and storage system is central to the project, with an initial capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, aiming to transform one of the UK’s most energy-intensive industrial regions into a low-carbon industrial cluster.
- https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-release/2021/03/cs-eni-hynet.html – Eni announced a significant step forward in the development of the HyNet North West project, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative in the UK. The project aims to capture, transport, and store CO₂ emissions from existing industries and future blue hydrogen production sites. Eni will play a pivotal role by transporting and storing the CO₂ in its depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore in Liverpool Bay. Once operational, the project is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 10 million tonnes annually by 2030, contributing to the UK’s net-zero emissions target by 2050.
- https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-release/2021/05/eni-and-progressive-energy-join-forces-to-accelerate-uk-ccs-development.html – Eni and Progressive Energy Limited announced a framework agreement to accelerate carbon capture and storage (CCS) within the HyNet North West low-carbon cluster project. Under the agreement, Eni will develop and operate both the onshore and offshore transportation and storage of CO₂ in their Liverpool Bay assets, while Progressive Energy will lead and coordinate the capture and hydrogen aspects of the project. This collaboration aims to substantially reduce CO₂ emissions and create new green jobs across the North West of England and North Wales, contributing to the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
- https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-release/2023/03/eni-as-the-key-ccs-developer-in-the-uk.html – Eni is playing a leading role in the decarbonisation process of the United Kingdom through the development of the HyNet carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The project aims to capture approximately 3 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, which will be transported and permanently stored in Eni’s depleted gas fields off the coast of Liverpool Bay. The HyNet project is expected to start in the mid-2020s, with an injection rate of approximately 4.5 million tonnes per year in the first phase, and the capacity to reach approximately 10 million tonnes per year from 2030.
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
9
Notes:
The narrative was published on 11 December 2025, making it current. The content is original and not recycled from other sources. The involvement of Eni S.p.A. and the focus on the HyNet North-West Cluster are recent developments, indicating high freshness. The report is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
The direct quotes from Dr Mark Ireland and Professor Stuart Jones are unique to this narrative, with no earlier matches found online. This suggests the content is original or exclusive.
Source reliability
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative originates from Newcastle University’s official press office, a reputable source. The involvement of Durham University and Eni S.p.A. adds credibility, as both are well-established institutions in their respective fields.
Plausability check
Score:
10
Notes:
The claims about the geoenergy research partnership and its objectives align with known initiatives in the UK, such as the HyNet North-West Cluster. The involvement of Eni S.p.A. in CO₂ transportation and storage infrastructure is consistent with their previous projects. The narrative’s language and tone are appropriate for the subject matter and region.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is current, original, and sourced from reputable institutions. The claims are plausible and consistent with known initiatives, with no signs of disinformation.
