The environmental services company has been appointed by engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Kanadevia Inova AG to design and supply two CO2 purification and dehydration units for the Protos carbon capture plant near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
The units will be installed at Encyclis’ Protos ERF, where they will prepare captured CO2 for transport and long-term storage.
Veolia said the contract marks its entry into the full-scale carbon capture market.
Its modular units have been designed to fit within the space constraints of the Protos ERF building, while ensuring the captured CO2 meets the purity standards required for safe transport and storage.
Anne Le Guennec, CEO of Veolia’s water technology activities, said: “This pioneering project establishes Veolia at the forefront of industrial decarbonisation and environmental security.
“With active carbon capture projects across Europe and the US, Veolia is the partner of choice for organisations seeking to decarbonise at scale, and we look forward to accelerating additional carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects worldwide.”
Protos carbon capture plant
The Protos project is being developed at Encyclis’ existing Energy from Waste (EfW) site in Cheshire and is intended to become the UK’s first full-scale carbon capture facility integrated with an EfW plant.
Once operational, the facility is expected to capture around 370,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the adjoining ERF, which will aim to process up to 500,000 tonnes of waste each year.
The carbon capture plant is scheduled to become operational in mid-2029.
Captured CO2 will be transported through the HyNet North West pipeline network for permanent geological storage in depleted gas reservoirs beneath Liverpool Bay.
Construction of the carbon capture plant is being led by Kanadevia Inova, which is using amine-based technology to remove CO2 from the ERF’s flue gases. The purification and dehydration equipment supplied by Veolia will prepare the captured gas for onward transport.
Foundational works at the site were reported to be underway in May 2026, following the start of construction in late 2025.
The Protos carbon capture project was given the green light in October 2025 via a public-private funding agreement with the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
The funding comes as part of the government department’s industrial decarbonisation cluster programme.
In 2024, the government committed to investing £21.7 billion in carbon capture projects in the UK over the next 25 years.
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