AN eco plant in Widnes is set to remove even more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Renewable energy company Evero has confirmed that two of its projects have passed the ‘deliverability assessment’ in the UK Government’s Hynet Track One expansion process.

This lays the foundation for the delivery of two world-class, large-volume greenhouse gas removal facilities operational by 2030.

The news follows the Government giving the go-ahead for £22billion worth of investment into carbon capture and storage, including the Hynet cluster.

Both projects are a retrofit of carbon capture and storage, on the existing Ince Biopower plant in Ellesmere Port and the Mersey Bioenergy plant in Widnes.

The plants already process more than 300,000 tonnes of locally sourced waste wood, which would otherwise go into landfill, into renewable electricity.

With the addition of the carbon capture and storage plants, the assets will generate as much as 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide removals per annum.

Simon Hicks, CEO of Evero, said “We are delighted that the UK Government has recognised the quality of our carbon capture and storage projects.

“They are of long-term environmental importance to the UK’s commitment to meeting our net-zero targets, removing more than 400,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year once both plants are operational by 2030.

“At Evero, we are delivering on our promise to be forever capturing carbon.

“This is a crucial milestone in the delivery of that promise, and we look forward to contributing to the unlocking of a low carbon future across the north west of the UK.”