A GROUND-breaking Cheshire facility designed to remove the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions of almost 200,000 cars a year from the atmosphere so it can be stored under the Irish Sea is poised to get the go ahead.

Cheshire West and Chester’s planning committee is recommended to rubber-stamp an application for a carbon capture facility (CCF) at the Protos energy hub near Ellesmere Port when it meets next week.

The plant is designed to capture almost all the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flue gases which will be emitted by the adjacent Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) currently under construction.

If approved, it would be one of the first carbon capture plants associated with an ERF in the UK and would capture 380,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – roughly the equivalent emissions of 200,000 cars each year.

The captured CO2 at the site on Marsh Lane in Ince would then be exported to the HyNet Northwest CO2 Transport and Storage Facility via a spur pipeline, for long-term storage in depleted underwater gas fields in Liverpool Bay.

A separate application for construction of the spur pipeline and above ground installation has also been lodged and is expected to receive the green light at the same meeting.

A report to the committee said: “The proposal would make a significant contribution to industrial de-carbonisation and in achieving national objectives relating to net zero emissions addressing the harmful impacts of climate change.”

During the two-year construction period, the company said there would be 250 full time jobs supported, with seven full-time jobs created once it is operational.

No objections have been received and Elton Parish Council said it supports the proposal as it would ‘contribute to a reduction in atmospheric pollution, support jobs in the local area and contribute to the growth of a green skills workforce’.

The scheme is part of a much wider series of infrastructure developments in the area aimed at advancing greener energy solutions.

Developed by Peel NRE, the 321-acre Protos hub brings together technologies which connect energy-intensive businesses with sources of low-carbon energy. The company said the hub has the potential to support more than 3,000 jobs, with more than £700m invested in the local area.

Protos is also a key component of the HyNet North West project, a hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project.

The meeting takes place next Tuesday at Ellesmere Port Library Committee Room.