Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock and one of the world’s leading infrastructure investors, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 49.99% interest in Eni CCUS Holding (Eni CCUS), a leading global platform in the carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) sector.
Eni CCUS currently encompasses the Liverpool Bay and Bacton projects in the UK, the L10 project in the Netherlands and has the option to participate in the Ravenna CCS project in Italy – cornerstone assets aimed at decarbonising industrial clusters. The agreement also grants Eni CCUS the right to participate in potential future projects related to Eni’s depleted oil and gas fields once the relevant regulatory and market conditions allow. Over time, the Eni CCUS platform is expected to expand further, unlocking new business opportunities and reinforcing its contribution to decarbonization efforts.
The partnership will accelerate the development of these projects across different geographies, providing critical infrastructure to capture and permanently sequester CO2 emissions from hard-to-abate industries.
Bayo Ogunlesi, GIP’s chairman and chief executive officer says: ‘We are excited to partner with Eni, a global leader in CCUS. GIP’s experience in midstream infrastructure, combined with Eni’s technical, operational and industrial capabilities, will help accelerate the deployment of CCUS solutions at meaningful scale, furthering our commitment to serve growing market needs for affordable, decarbonised energy and products.’
Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, comments: ‘The decision to consolidate our CCUS global portfolio into a dedicated entity, and the entry of GIP as a strategic partner, will further enhance our ability to deliver large-scale, technically advanced decarbonisation solutions. The development of our satellite model applied to our businesses related to the energy transition is therefore successfully continuing, confirming their significant attractiveness in terms of growth potential and value creation by attracting aligned capital, as well as their effectiveness in reducing emissions.’
CCUS is a safe, proven and scalable solution to decarbonise emissions-intensive industrial sectors such as steel, cement, and chemicals as well as contributing to emissions abatement in power generation. By permanently storing or repurposing captured CO2, CCUS enables industries to meet climate targets, while maintaining energy security and industrial competitiveness in the transition to a decarbonised economy.
GIP views the energy transition as a generational investment opportunity, estimated to require over $100 trillion of investment to deliver on the world’s need for clean energy. CCUS is a critical component of this transition, and through this strategic partnership, GIP is leveraging its expertise in energy and industrial infrastructure, along with strong partnerships across government and industry, to enable and accelerate the deployment of energy transition infrastructure.
