A community benefit fund has been launched for areas hosting the Liverpool Bay CO2 Transportation and Storage infrastructure, part of the HyNet industrial carbon capture cluster. The fund will support not-for-profit groups across Cheshire and Flintshire, with a focus on education, environmental projects, and local heritage and culture. It is being administered by Cheshire Community Foundation and Community Foundation Wales.
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Nice to see a local benefit fund tied to CCS infrastructure. The article says it will support education, environment and heritage groups, but it does not mention how big the fund is or how groups apply. That detail matters if communities are supposed to plan around it.
The 26km pipeline from Elton to Point of Ayr is the part to watch. Construction timelines and connection dates will determine whether HyNet actually captures CO2 on schedule. A community fund is fine, but it does not tell us when the pipe gets built.
Voluntary community funds are useful, but they are not the same as a legal commitment. If the project is meant to be long-term infrastructure, the operator should publish the funding formula, governance and expected annual payout. Otherwise it reads more like goodwill than a durable local benefit.
Good that the fund covers both sides of the border through two community foundations. Cross-border coordination is often where these schemes get messy. The missing piece is still the actual amounts and eligibility criteria.
Carbon capture gets the headlines, but the jobs and local supply chain will decide whether communities actually back it. The fund mentions education and heritage. It does not mention skills training or maintenance work for the pipeline. That feels like a gap.
Useful summary of a small but real step for HyNet. The fund is voluntary and the amounts are not disclosed, so treat it as a signal of local engagement rather than a full community benefits package.
