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The UK government and Italian energy company ENI will announce the final progress of the 38-mile pipeline on Thursday to collect carbon dioxide from industrial plants around Liverpool and Manchester and bury them offshore.
The two, well-versed in the project, said the announcement would be made as more than 60 leaders gathered in London for a two-day energy security summit.
Eni's pipeline is an important part of Hynet North West, an industrial cluster containing new plants that produce hydrogen used by local manufacturers.
Advocates of the project say 350,000 manufacturing jobs in the region will be safe in the future as a result of the plan, creating £17 billion in economic value over the next 25 years.
The Italian company plans to store 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in a 0.6 miles of depleted gas field on the seabed of Liverpool Bay, which has risen to 10 mn tonnes since 2030.
Last October, the government said it would support Hynet and another East Coast project, Net Zero Teeside, which received almost £220 billion in support over 25 years.
At the time, ENI CEO Claudio Descalzi said the support was a “critical step” to establish the UK carbon capture industry. Eni's pipeline obtained planning permission in March, clearing the path to final investment approval.
The government said in October that Merseyside and Teesside projects “infuse growth into the industrial centres of England's northwest and northeastern countries.”
However, there was concern that there was little money left for other carbon capture projects seeking government support, especially Humber and Scotland projects.
Enni declined to comment.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that £300 million will be available for offshore wind projects ahead of the government's spending review in June.
The funds are designed to reduce the risk of projects for individual investors and build supply chains for new technologies, such as floating wind platforms.
Additional Reports by Jim Picard
