FAQs

The Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) comprises the installation of an underground section of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) conduit under Gronant Dunes originating from the HDD Entry Pit [consented under FUL/000246/23] to a buried HDD Exit Pit at the Mean High Water Spring (MHWS) line, and burial of a combined electrical and fibre-optic cable on a new alignment across Talacre Beach and Foreshore to the Mean Low Water Spring (MLWS) line, located to the north-west of the PoA Terminal.

The Proposed Development is proposing a realignment to the cable route element of the consented PoA Terminal and Foreshore Works (“the Consented Development") that was granted planning permission in May 2024 [FUL/000246/23] by Flintshire County Council (FCC) Planning Committee.

The Proposed Development forms part of the Liverpool Bay CO₂ Transportation and Storage (T&S) infrastructure to serve the wider HyNet project. HyNet is a low carbon hydrogen and carbon capture, transport and storage project that will unlock a low carbon economy for north Wales and the north west of England and put the region at the forefront of the UK’s drive to Net Zero.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the industry cluster across north Wales and the north west of England need to be transported safely to the carbon storage sites underneath Liverpool Bay. It is important that we transfer the captured CO₂ to the storage sites in a safe and reliable way. These storage sites have previously held natural gas for millions of years and will be repurposed to safely store the CO₂ from industrial emitters. This requires substantial infrastructure that can safely contain CO₂ and withstand the environment in which it is placed.

The Proposed Development is proposing a realignment to the cable route element of the Consented Development. The Consented Development and Proposed Development form part of the Liverpool Bay CO₂ T&S infrastructure to serve the wider HyNet project that will transport CO₂ captured from existing industry in north Wales and the north west of England, as well as from new hydrogen production facilities.

The Consented Development comprises new infrastructure and modifications to existing facilities at the PoA Terminal in Flintshire to operate with CO₂. The works of the Consented Development include:

1. Retention and use of existing structures, plant and ancillary development forming the PoA Terminal for the transport of CO₂ and the demolition / removal of redundant structures at the PoA Terminal.
2. Construction and use of new infrastructure required for CO₂ service at the PoA Terminal.
3. Retention and use of the existing 20-inch diameter gas pipeline.
4. Condensate pipes and associate cables from the PoA Terminal to the MLWS line for the transport of CO₂ and associated activities.
5. Removal of the Shut Down Valve compound associated with the existing 20-inch diameter gas pipeline from the PoA Terminal to the MLWS line and appropriate restoration / remediation.
6. Construction and use of two 33kV electricity and fibre-optic connections from PoA Terminal to the MLWS line.
7. Construction and use of two kiosks and associated fenced compounds located on the line of the proposed combined 222kV electricity and fibre-optic cable.

The Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) for the Consented Development took place between 7 November and 5 December 2022. Following submission of a Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) 1990 (as amended) application [FUL/000246/23], the Consented Development was granted planning permission in May 2024 by the FCC Planning Committee.

We submitted a parallel Marine Licence (ML) application [CML2365] to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Marine Licencing Team in February 2024 to cover the Marine element of the Consented Development. This includes installation of a combined electrical and fibre-optic cable on a new alignment, to connect the onshore grid to the New Douglas OP in Liverpool Bay. NRW granted consent for the ML [CML2365] on 22 May 2025. The construction and operation of the realigned cables beyond the MLWS line through the marine environment is consented by this ML.

Please view the Previous applications webpage for more information.

Feedback from stakeholders on the original ML application [CML2365] identified that crossing the Welsh Channel to lay the cable could have implications for vessel movements in and out of the Port of Mostyn. We were therefore requested to explore options to modify the installation method and alignment to avoid impacts on vessel movements in and out of the Port of Mostyn.

The new cable alignment offers several advantages compared with the previous alignment, including:

• Improved stakeholder coordination and reduced disturbance to Port of Mostyn: the realignment decreases impact on channel traffic as fewer support vessel movements are required due to the reduced complexity of anchor movements. There will also be collaborative planning in place to avoid conflicts with port operations.
• Minimised ecological impact: the realignment has a slightly smaller seabed footprint in the inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas, due to a more direct, straight route.
• Environmental advantages: the realigned cable laying, construction plant, equipment area and the repositioning of the HDD Exit Pit will be an additional 250m away from the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes, further reducing potential disturbance during the breeding season. The cable will also be routed through an area with lower Tern foraging distribution and activity (<1.5%).
• Regulatory compliance: the realignment remains compliant with the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and Water Framework Directive (WFD), with no additional adverse effects on designated sites or water quality.
• Operational efficiencies: the simpler cable installation and faster lay operation across the channel avoids complicated and time-consuming manoeuvre of the Cable laying vessel (CLV) on anchors within the Welsh Channel. Vessel time in the channel will also be reduced due to shorter pull operation.

As the proposed realignment of the combined electrical and fibre-optic cable lies outside of the planning application area which was approved under planning permission FUL/000246/23, we are seeking consent for the new cable alignment from FCC through the submission of a new TCPA application. This will seek re-authorisation of the same works already consented under application FUL/000246/23, but on a new alignment that is approximately 250m further east along Talacre Beach.

The gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay are now depleted, and oil and gas production has ceased. The reservoirs are uniquely placed close to the industrial heartland of north Wales and the north west of England to make them the ideal storage site for the HyNet Cluster. The gas fields beneath Liverpool Bay provide safe, long-term CO₂ storage for up to 25 years.

The Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) is currently in its pre-planning application phase.

The Proposed Development lies within the local planning authority boundary of Flintshire County Council (FCC). To secure consent to build the Proposed Development, we are preparing a planning application to be submitted under the Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) 1990 (as amended) to FCC in August 2025.

If a development is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), it undergoes the process set out under Planning Act 2008 – all other planning applications undergo the process set out under the TCPA 1990. As the Proposed Development is not considered an NSIP, the local planning authority, FCC, will determine the planning application in accordance with the TCPA 1990.

We are currently preparing a planning application for the Proposed Development. As part of preparing this application, we are holding a Pre-application Consultation (PAC) with stakeholders and the community to gather feedback on the Proposed Development. We plan to submit the TCPA application to FCC in August 2025.

For coastal or marine developments, a Marine Licence (ML) and a planning application may both be required because they serve different legal and regulatory purposes and are issued by different authorities. The Proposed Development spans both terrestrial and marine environments, crossing the inter-tidal zone.

A planning application under the TCPA 1990 is required for the Proposed Development to cover the land-based, foreshore and inter-tidal works (down to the Mean Low Water Spring (MLWS) line) and assess impacts on land use, visual amenity and local infrastructure and communities. An ML is required for the Proposed Development to regulate and authorise the activities from the Mean High Water Spring (MHWS) line, including any seabed disturbance or marine construction.

Detailed information on the Proposed Development and updates on our progress can be found on our webpage: hynethub.co.uk/poa. You may also like to receive our regular e-newsletter, which features the latest information on the Liverpool Bay CO₂ Transportation and Storage (T&S) infrastructure. Sign up for the e-newsletter by clicking here.

We are currently consulting with stakeholders and the local community for the Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“Proposed Development”). The Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) period for the Proposed Development is taking place between 16 June and 14 July 2025. Please make sure all feedback is submitted by 11.59 PM on 14 July 2025 to ensure it is considered.

As the project develops, we will add further information to the HyNet Hub.

We are committed to making project information accessible to all users. If you have any specific project questions, or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, please email us at: hello@hynethub.co.uk.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us at: hello@hynethub.co.uk.

To gain consent to build the Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”), we are preparing a planning application to be submitted as a Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) 1990 (as amended) application to Flintshire County Council (FCC) in August 2025. This is following the previous planning application that was prepared and submitted for the PoA Terminal and Foreshore Works (“the Consented Development"). The Consented Development was granted planning permission in May 2024 [FUL/000246/23] by FCC Planning Committee.

You can view the detailed proposals, including the draft planning application documents, for the Proposed Development during the consultation period taking place between 16 June and 14 July 2025 on our website: hynethub.co.uk/poa.

Once the consultation period is over, we will gather the feedback we have received about the Proposed Development from local people and stakeholders and this information will be documented and taken into account for the final planning application. We will make a summary of that feedback available in a consultation report, which will be submitted with the planning application, as well as published on the HyNet Hub website, so that you can see what you told us, and understand in greater detail how we are taking that information on board.

To register for up-to-date news and information about the consultation and the project, you can subscribe to our regular e-newsletter here.

We will manage your data in line with UK Data Protection Guidelines. See how we will use and store your data here.

The Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) forms part of the Liverpool Bay CO₂ Transportation and Storage (T&S) infrastructure which will help support thousands of new jobs in north Wales and the north west of England and will secure the long-term future of existing jobs. There will also be greater career opportunities for local people, tapping into the area’s blend of industrial experience and scientific expertise, which together will create a hotspot for innovation and growth.

To maximise the benefit to local communities, we will continue to work with local suppliers where possible. Our procurement processes will consider suppliers with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings to ensure that the design and construction of the Proposed Development has minimal environmental and community impact.

The benefits for the local community include:

• Educational experiences for young people
• Work experience for those considering their options
• Apprenticeships and career opportunities
• Community funding for environmental, health and educational initiatives
• Volunteering from the project team to help local initiatives

We will provide further information on the Community Benefit Fund, including how local groups and organisations can apply, soon.

We will minimise disruption as much as possible. We will work closely with Flintshire County Council (FCC; the relevant local planning authority) to agree hours of work during construction, and with the highway authority to ensure the safety of road users. Some locations where trenchless crossings (i.e. horizontal directional drilling; HDD) are being carried out will require working 24 hours a day to allow the work to be completed as safely and quickly as possible, but this will be for short periods of time.  

Temporary access tracks [consented under Consented Development FUL/000246/23] via the existing local road network will be established to provide access for construction vehicles to minimise disruption to community and local environmental impacts. Consistent signage (in both English and Welsh) at temporary access locations will also be installed during construction in order to provide relevant warnings and information to the public.

The Proposed Development comprises buried infrastructure that will not be visible on completion of construction.

Temporary diversions will be established across the dunes during the construction period for pedestrian use.

A temporary construction compound has been consented under the Consented Development [FUL/000246/23] and does not form part of the new Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) 1990 (as amended) application for the Proposed Development. It will be located in the Talacre Beach parking area and will be used to provide access to the inter-tidal works area.

For the Proposed Development, the inter-tidal works are expected to take up to eight weeks. This will be separated into two, four-week periods:

• the HDD works at Gronant Dunes, to start between February and April 2026; and 
• the cable pulls, to start in July 2026.

The Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) forms part of the Liverpool Bay CO₂ Transportation and Storage (T&S) infrastructure to serve the wider HyNet project. As an important part of the wider HyNet project, the Proposed Development will help to facilitate rapid reduction of carbon emissions from local industry and clean up air quality in the region using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

CCS is a safe and proven technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO₂) where it is being produced and locks it away, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.

The Liverpool Bay CO₂ T&S infrastructure will safely transport CO₂ emissions directly captured from energy-intensive industries via a pipeline and store these emissions securely in depleted natural gas reservoirs under Liverpool Bay. These technologies have the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 10 million tonnes every year by the 2030s – the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road.

We commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) undertaken by independent and suitably qualified environmental specialists to consider the potential effects of the construction, operation and maintenance of the PoA Terminal and Foreshore Works (“the Consented Development”) on the environment. The EIA demonstrated that, through careful design and use of mitigation measures, the Consented Development would not result in any long term significant adverse environmental effects.

Given the Proposed Development constitutes a realignment of the foreshore elements of the Consented Development, it is not anticipated that there would be any additional adverse effects of the Proposed Development to those reported in the Environmental Statement (ES) for the Consented Development. The ES was submitted with the Marine Licence (ML) application [CML2365] for the offshore works in the marine environment.

An EIA Screening assessment has been conducted to determine whether the Proposed Development should be subject to an EIA, by identifying whether it is likely to have significant effects on the environment. The realignment has a slightly smaller seabed footprint in the inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas, due to a more direct, straight route. In addition, the realigned cable laying, construction plant, equipment area and repositioning of the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) Exit Pit, will be an additional 250m away from the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes, reducing potential disturbance during the breeding season. The cable will be routed through an area with lower Tern foraging distribution and activity (<1.5%).

The realignment does not introduce new or additional significant environmental effects and, rather has ecological and environmental benefits in comparison to the original route proposed in the Consented Development. The Screening Opinion [reference number SCR/000421/25] from Flintshire County Council (FCC) issued on 4 June 2025 confirmed that the Proposed Development does not require an EIA; the potential impact on the environment is not considered to be significant because of the localised and temporary nature of the impact.  

Our construction programme focuses on minimising the impact on the environment and wildlife breeding periods. We are aware that the Little Tern breeding season is between mid-April to mid-July. Therefore, the construction programme has been planned accordingly to avoid the breeding season as far as is reasonably practicable by:

• carrying out the HDD Conduit, and Exit Pit works during February and March 2026 before the breeding seasons starts; and
• executing the installation activities of the electrical cable on Talacre Beach in July 2026 close to the migratory departure of the Little Terns.

Instead of taking lots of heavy cables over the beach, which might damage the environment and disturb wildlife, some cables will be brought ashore from the sea. Where necessary, we will use temporary matting to help vehicles move across the sand.

We will use a method of trenchless technique called HDD to lay some of the cables. HDD allows us to lay cables underground by drilling underneath the sand dunes, instead of digging through them. This will minimise disruption and environmental impact to the area.

The UK is home to a range of high-hazard industries and has developed a world-class safety regulatory regime. The UK government regulates all carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, its infrastructure and its operation. The safety of the Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) will be regulated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). Both regulatory bodies have a long track record of effectively regulating safety in the UK hydrocarbon sector.

Our timeline for delivery relies entirely on consent to develop the Point of Ayr (PoA) Cable Route Foreshore Works Proposed Development (“the Proposed Development”) from the local planning authority, Flintshire County Council (FCC). The application process is complex, and we will consult with stakeholders and the community before we submit our application in August 2025.

If consent is granted, we intend to begin construction without delay – and we expect to commence between February and April 2026. We anticipate that the inter-tidal works will take up to eight weeks, but this is dependent on the detailed design we progress, although we will keep local communities informed throughout the process.

If you would like to receive updates about the scheme’s progress, subscribe to our regular e-newsletter here.

The more direct route proposed in the realignment has the benefits of a simpler cable installation, shorter pull operation, and faster lay operation across the channel. This avoids complicated and time-consuming manoeuvre of the cable laying vessel (CLV) - a specialised ship used to install underwater cables - on anchors within the Welsh Channel, reducing vessel time and movements in the channel. This will decrease the impact on channel traffic.

There will also be collaborative planning in place to avoid conflicts with port operations. We will work with Port of Mostyn to ensure that the CLV will be positioned to allow safe and unobstructed passage and manoeuvre of daily vessel movements, at agreed timings, into and out of the Port. This will include advance planning with Port of Mostyn to avoid any major conflict between operational periods, continuous communication between our cable-laying team and the Port of Mostyn’s vessel traffic control to monitor and adjust to real-time movements as necessary. Daily reports to Port of Mostyn will highlight schedule progress and current activities and restrictions.

Waste generated during the construction of the Proposed Development is anticipated to be minimal. Material excavated from the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) Exit Pit will be used to backfill the pit upon completion of the works, thereby minimising the amount of material that will need to be transported off site. The installation of the cable will be achieved through ploughing, a ‘self-burial’ method, which requires no excavation and therefore no generation of waste.

In September 2025, the partial decommissioning of the Point of Ayr (PoA) Terminal will begin. This work will decommission redundant equipment and convert systems from hydrocarbon to carbon capture and storage (CCS), through a controlled and sequential shutdown.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is to be received at the PoA Terminal via an existing pipeline, sent to the New Douglas Offshore Platform (OP) Complex and further exported to three satellite platforms for permanent storage. ​The new equipment at the PoA Terminal will enable the filtering and compressing of CO₂ before it is sent to the offshore pipeline. New facilities include pigging facilities for pipeline maintenance, filters, compressors, a diesel system, a vent package, nitrogen generation, sub-stations, buildings, and a warehouse.

These facilities are designed to streamline operations, ensure safety, and support the project's overall productivity. The site preparations and installation works are due to commence in July 2025.

During the demolition and decommissioning phase, temporary construction facilities will be installed within the PoA terminal perimeter to facilitate the construction works of the project. ​The temporary construction facilities will include dedicated car parking spaces, a warehouse and a designated laydown area for staging materials and equipment.