Veolia Environnement S.A. (Paris, France) has been awarded a significant contract by Kanadevia Inova AG (Zurich, Switzerland), the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the Protos carbon capture plant, to design and supply two CO₂ purification and dehydration units. The units will be installed at the energy-from-waste facility of Encyclis Ltd. (London) near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, U.K. This contract marks Veolia’s entry into the full-scale carbon capture market and reinforces its commitment to accelerating industrial decarbonization and environmental security through innovative technology.
The Protos project, the U.K.’s first full-scale carbon capture facility integrated with an energy-from-waste plant, will process up to 500,000 tons of non-recyclable waste annually, generating up to 49.9 MW of baseload electricity for National Grid plc (London) while capturing approximately 370,000 tons of CO₂ each year. This is equivalent to removing around 200,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road annually. Once operational in mid-2029, the facility will become a negative emitter, with captured CO₂ transported via the HyNet North West pipeline network for permanent geological storage in depleted gas reservoirs beneath Liverpool Bay.
Anne Le Guennec, CEO of Veolia’s water technology activities, said: “This pioneering project establishes Veolia at the forefront of industrial decarbonization and environmental security. We are delivering on our promise to drive ecological transformation by enabling industries to transition toward net zero, in line with our GreenUp strategic program. With active carbon capture projects across Europe and the U.S., Veolia is the partner of choice for organizations seeking to decarbonize at scale, and we look forward to accelerating additional carbon capture, utilization and storage projects worldwide.”
Veolia’s compact, modular purification and dehydration units were specifically designed to fit within the constrained space of the Protos energy-recovery facility building envelope. The technology will ensure the captured CO₂ meets the stringent purity standards required for safe transport and long-term storage, a critical factor in the project’s success and a testament to Veolia’s ability to deliver tailored decarbonization solutions for complex industrial challenges.
The Protos CCS project is part of the HyNet North West decarbonization cluster, one of the U.K.’s flagship industrial carbon capture initiatives.