Carbon Storage Developers Complete Applications in UK’s Second CCS Round
The UK’s North Sea Transition Authority received bids for more than two million acres of seabed in its second carbon storage licensing round. Bidding closed on March 24 after having opened in December 2025 and follows the first four licenses, which were awarded in 2023, which have already begun efforts testing the injection process. A total of 21 licenses were awarded in the first round.
The authority had reported strong initial interest before beginning the solicitation, and it now says that the applications pave the way for further carbon storage efforts in the UK. It highlights the sustained progress in the sector, saying the first projects could be operational in 2028.
It highlights that two of the previously awarded projects, both located in Track 1, are among the most advanced in the UK and likely to be the first in operation. The second round offered 14 locations, which NSTA said could provide up to 2 gigatonnes of additional CO2 storage capacity
The Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) is designed to transport and store CO2 captured from industrial clusters in Teesside and the Humber, and is being led by partners including BP, Equinor, and TotalEnergies. It recently started drilling an appraisal well and, in January, signed a lease with The Crown Estate for what is being called the UK’s first and largest commercial-scale CO? transportation and storage asset. A saline aquifer located about 90 miles offshore in the southern North Sea, together with nearby stores, provides NEP with access to up to 1 billion tonnes of CO2 storage capacity.
The HyNet Alliance was awarded three storage permits. It is moving forward with Eni’s Liverpool Bay Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as its first element. Construction was beginning in 2025 on the project, which consists of a network of new and repurposed pipelines that will transport carbon dioxide (CO?) emissions from industry to a storage location under the seabed in Eni’s depleted wells.
During the first round in 2023, Perenco UK was also awarded a license to operate The Poseidon Project, a carbon storage project in the Leman gas field located in the southern North Sea sector of the UK Continental Shelf. It is a depleted gas reservoir that could have an ultimate capacity of 40Mtpa. It started its first tests in February 2025 and said it expects to commence operations in 2029.
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The Bacton CCS project would be located in the Hewett field, in the southern North Sea, off the coast of Norfolk. Eni proposed using Hewett as a carbon storage site servicing the Thames Estuary. It began drilling a test well in October 2025.
The NSTA reports it has demonstrated support for the industry with a series of initiatives, including publishing maps highlighting areas of future carbon storage appraisal potential and issuing a set of stewardship expectations to help licensees. It will now scrutinize the applications received in this second round and work with the applicants and other stakeholders, including The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, and other marine sectors, before deciding on whether or not to award licenses. It is expected to announce its decision in early 2027.