Eni and BlackRock’s GIP Secure £500M+ Financing for Major Carbon Capture Projects

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Europe received a major funding boost after Eni and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of BlackRock, secured more than £500 million (about $670 million) for their CCS platform through Eni CCUS Holding.

The financing facility—arranged with a consortium of international lenders—will help expand a growing portfolio of CCS infrastructure projects across the UK, the Netherlands, and potentially Italy. The investment highlights increasing private‑sector backing for large‑scale carbon storage systems designed to decarbonize heavy industry.

Financing Structure and Key Participants

The funding package was provided by 13 international lenders, demonstrating strong institutional interest in CCS infrastructure. The banks participating in the facility are:

• Banco BPM
• BNP Paribas
• BPER
• DNB
• ING
• Intesa Sanpaolo
• Mediobanca
• Mizuho
• MUFG
• NatWest
• SMBC
• Société Générale
• UniCredit

BNP Paribas served as the sole financial adviser for the transaction.

According to Eni, the facility expands the funding base for Eni CCUS Holding, the joint platform established with GIP to develop and manage carbon capture, transport, and storage assets.

Liverpool Bay CCS: Backbone of the HyNet Cluster

One of the most important projects supported by the platform is Liverpool Bay CCS, located in the East Irish Sea and forming the transport and storage backbone of the HyNet industrial decarbonization cluster in northwest England and north Wales.

Key milestones and characteristics of the project include:

• Financial close with the UK government: April 2025, enabling the project to enter its construction phase.
• Construction progress: More than 30% completed as of 2026.
• Expected start of CO₂ injection: 2028.
• Initial storage capacity: 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year in Phase 1.
• Potential expansion: Up to 10 million tonnes per year in the 2030s.

The project will transport captured emissions from industrial facilities across the HyNet cluster and permanently store them in depleted offshore gas fields beneath Liverpool Bay.

Other CCS Projects in the Eni CCUS Portfolio

The financing is not limited to Liverpool Bay. Eni CCUS Holding manages a broader European portfolio designed to scale carbon storage infrastructure across several countries.

Key initiatives include:

L10‑CCS (Netherlands)
A carbon storage project in the Dutch North Sea linked to the Aramis CO₂ transport and storage value chain.

Bacton CCS (United Kingdom)
A proposed cross‑border CCS project in southeast England intended to connect CO₂ transport systems between the UK and continental Europe.

Potential Ravenna CCS stake (Italy)
Eni CCUS Holding may also acquire a stake in the Ravenna CCS project, an Italian carbon‑storage initiative developed by Eni and partners that is expanding in phases.

Together, these projects form the core of Eni’s strategy to build a large European carbon storage network capable of handling industrial emissions at scale.

Why the Financing Matters

Large CCS projects require substantial upfront capital for pipelines, transport systems, and underground storage infrastructure. The new financing strengthens Eni CCUS Holding’s ability to move multiple projects from development to construction.

With Liverpool Bay already under construction and additional projects advancing in the Netherlands and the UK, the platform represents one of Europe’s most significant privately financed carbon storage initiatives—aimed at supporting industrial decarbonization while enabling heavy industries to reduce emissions without shutting down operations.