Energy-from-waste-wood operator Evero has submitted a planning application to deliver the UK’s first Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) facility delivered under the GGR Business Model.
Located at Protos – Peel NRE’s strategic energy and resource hub in Cheshire – the plans advance Evero’s ambition to transform its operational waste wood biomass plant to a carbon negative operation.
Evero's Ince Bio Power Plant has already been selected by the UK Government as one of only two priority projects on the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Track-1 expansion Project Negotiation List - an endorsement that positions it as a frontrunner in the UK's carbon capture ambitions.
Once operational, the carbon capture facility is expected to remove 217,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere annually, processing 170,000 tonnes of domestically sourced waste wood, and contributing to Evero’s wider portfolio, which generates enough electricity to power 125,000 homes and businesses each year
Protos provides occupiers access to planned carbon transport and storage infrastructure at the heart of the HyNet North West hydrogen and carbon capture cluster. This includes the planned Protos Spur pipeline, designed to handle around 980,000 tonnes of CO₂ per annum, giving occupiers a route to capture, transport and permanently store CO₂ emissions offshore.
For businesses such as Evero, this creates the opportunity to connect into the HyNet CO₂ pipeline network and transport captured emissions for permanent geological storage. Combined with Protos’ established utilities infrastructure - including electricity, water and gas - and its phased expansion plans, the site in Cheshire is one of the few locations in the UK equipped to support projects of this scale.
The Ince Bio Power Plant has operated since 2018, generating low-carbon electricity by gasifying domestically sourced waste wood that would otherwise go to landfill. The facility processes materials such as old furniture, manufacturing and construction timberthat cannot be recycled, converting them into power for the grid. Evero plans to retrofit the existing plant with carbon capture technology, transforming an already low-carbon asset into one that’s carbon negative.
Richard Barker, Development Director at Peel NRE comments:
"This is another major milestone in establishing Protos as one of the UK's leading destinations for industrial decarbonisation and carbon capture. It demonstrates how the right infrastructure, in the right location, can unlock investment in technologies that will transform the way we generate energy and tackle climate change.
"Evero's plans show the potential of new carbon capture technologies in fully decarbonising existing infrastructure. Together with the wider HyNet North West cluster, projects like this have the potential to strengthen regional energy generation, attract investment, create skilled jobs and position the North West at the forefront of the UK's clean industrial revolution."
The plans illustrate the growing momentum at Protos, where occupiers are increasingly leveraging the site’s shared infrastructure to accelerate decarbonisation. This includes Encyclis’ plans to deliver the UK’s first fully decarbonised Energy-from-Waste facility, with construction now underway on a pioneering carbon capture plant on adjoining land.