18/02/2025
Encyclis is launching a carbon capture pilot programme as part of its preparations to deliver the UK’s first full-scale carbon capture plant at an energy-from-waste facility. The pilot plant will serve as a prototype of the carbon capture deployment planned for Encyclis’ Protos Energy Recovery Facility, in Cheshire, which is progressing as a pathfinder project under Track-1 of the industrial decarbonisation scheme led by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
The pilot plant is being installed at Encyclis’ Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Bedfordshire. As a temporary installation, the plant will confirm the design of the full-scale deployment at Protos ERF.
The installation of the pilot plant will also help to showcase the technology to key stakeholders and funders who are supporting the Protos carbon capture project. Encyclis has recently launched a financing process to finalise investment in the full-scale facility – confirming the company’s position at the forefront of carbon capture deployment in the UK.
As part of the DESNZ decarbonisation programme, the Protos carbon capture facility will support the Government’s ambition to address climate change, protect important industrial infrastructure, establish the UK as a global leader in clean energy, drive regional economic growth and create opportunities for new jobs and skills. In October 2024, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced nearly £22bn in government funding for carbon capture and storage.
The pilot plant, supplied and managed in partnership with specialist global contractor Kanadevia Inova, will sample around 1% of flue gases from Rookery South ERF and produce data on process performance before releasing the CO2 back into the facility’s core system.
The findings will confirm the final specifications of Protos facility, which is set to be the first of its kind in the UK. Operating at full commercial scale, the facility will enable around 370,000 tonnes per year of CO2 emissions from the adjoining waste treatment plant to be permanently locked away – which is equivalent to taking around 200,000 cars off the road. As part of the HyNet North West cluster, the Protos plant’s captured CO2 will be transported via pipeline for sub-sea storage in depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay.
The Protos carbon capture facility will enable an essential public sanitation service through the ongoing treatment of residual waste, using a process that generates baseload electricity, recovers resources and produces heat – while preventing the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – providing a real-time example of the circular economy in action.
This first-of-a-kind project is expected to create a technical and commercial blueprint for future carbon capture deployments to follow.
Owen Michaelson, CEO of Encyclis, said: “As a company, we provide essential social infrastructure to deal with society’s waste and recover as much energy and reusable resource from that as possible, in line with the circular economy. With the unprecedented addition of commercial-scale carbon capture, we can not only cut carbon emissions from our operations but effectively remove CO2 from the atmosphere due to the non-fossil proportion of the waste we treat.
“What we are developing is an incredible opportunity to support the Government’s key missions to deliver positive action against climate change, create new skilled jobs and strengthen the global reputation of the UK as a green industry leader.
“As we work towards fulfilling that ambition, we are taking steps to ensure we have a carbon capture process that delivers the best possible outcome in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The installation of this pilot plant at our Rookery South facility is a vital part of that process. It will enable us to measure the effectiveness of the technology and determine how to optimise its operation.”
Protos ERF is currently under construction near Ellesmere Port, in Cheshire, North West England. When it becomes operational, the facility will offer the capacity to process up to 500,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste. This will help the UK achieve landfill diversion targets and strengthen self-sufficiency in waste management. The waste treatment process will additionally generate up to 49MW of electricity – enough to power 90,000 homes.