Projects

First-of-its-kind carbon capture project

Our role

• On behalf of a joint venture between Encyclis Limited and Biffa Waste Services Limited, we are supporting the development of a Carbon Capture Facility associated with capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the Protos Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), a 49.9MW energy-from-waste plant located at the Protos Resource Recovery Park in Ince, Cheshire.
• We were commissioned to co-ordinate a multi-disciplinary team in the preparation of the planning application and EIA including landscape and visual impact, climate change, built heritage and socio-economics inputs A bespoke consenting strategy was prepared ensuring alignment between the planning and EIA workstreams. 
• We also delivered a comprehensive stakeholder and public engagement strategy to obtain support for the proposals, resulting in no community objections during the application stage.

Results

• The project has been identified by UK Government as one of eight industrial carbon capture projects to proceed to the due diligence stage of the Track 1 (Phase 2) Cluster Sequencing Process and will export captured carbon to the HyNet carbon capture, transportation and storage project. Once operational, the facility will capture c.380,000 tonnes of CO₂ per annum, equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road.
• The project was one of the first-of-its-kind to work through the Town and Country Planning Act process. We developed positive and collaborative relationships with Cheshire West & Chester Council and various statutory consultees (including the Environment Agency and Natural England) during determination of the application to ensure that all technical considerations were fully addressed. The application received a unanimous resolution to grant full planning permission at planning committee in September 2024.
• Our Planning team have been retained to support the project during the construction and commissioning phase in order to discharge planning conditions and provide strategic advice.