Sumitomo Corporation has committed funding to a new CO2 transport pipeline in the UK, aiming to reduce emissions from one of the country’s most carbon-intensive industries—cement and lime production. The Japanese company and its UK subsidiary, Summit Energy Evolution Limited (SEEL), are investing in a CO2 transport pipeline project as part of the Peak Cluster initiative.
The effort targets a significant source of industrial emissions, aiming to capture and transport 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from four plants located in and around the Peak District—facilities that together account for 40% of the UK’s cement and lime production.
This initiative, launched by low-carbon energy developer Progressive Energy in 2022, is now backed by a £59.6 million ($80 million) funding package. Alongside Sumitomo’s commitment, the UK’s National Wealth Fund has also joined as an investor in Peak Cluster Limited, the project’s operating company.
The captured CO2 will be routed via a new onshore pipeline to Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Net Zero storage site beneath the East Irish Sea, forming part of a broader carbon capture and storage (CCS) network. The infrastructure is expected to play a key role in achieving the UK’s national goal of capturing 50 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2035.
The Growing Carbon Capture Portfolio of Sumitomo
Sumitomo, building on decades of experience in the energy and pipeline sectors, sees the Peak Cluster project as a strategic move in its global Energy Transformation roadmap, with plans to expand similar initiatives across the Americas and Arabian Gulf.
Sumitomo, together with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K LINE), and Hilcorp Alaska entered into a collaboration in October 2024 to assess the feasibility of implementing CCS solutions in Alaska, USA. The northernmost state has been a significant site for oil and gas production since the 1950s, and the region’s CCS project is projected to have a total storage capacity of around 50 gigatons.
In 2023 the Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) also signed an initial agreement with Sumitomo to jointly explore a carbon capture project in Sharjah, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
Read more: Sumitomo And K Line To Explore Carbon Storage Potential In Alaska
