Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has committed (a) tax-payer and (b) tariff-backed guarantees to the North-West Hynet project.

The Government has announced up to £20 billion for the early deployment of CCUS in the UK and aims to establish four clusters by 2030, including the Track-1 HyNet cluster.

No contracts have yet been awarded through the Cluster Sequencing process. The form and amount of support provided to projects is subject to ongoing negotiations. Final decisions on whether to award support will be subject to achieving value for money outcomes for taxpayers and consumers.

To maximise participation, diversity, and resilience in the Cluster Sequencing process, we have also supported early-stage design work in industrial clusters, via the existing Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge Fund, which is run by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). They announced the outcome of the challenge in 2021, committing up to £171m across nine projects, including £33m to projects in the HyNet cluster, crowding in private sector co-funding.