The pipeline is part of a wider carbon capture and storage project, the Viking CCS Project, which will transport carbon dioxide generated by industrial processes in the Humber region to a subsea reservoir off the Lincolnshire Coast, via the existing Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System. The works consented by way of the Development Consent Order comprise the construction of a carbon dioxide intake facility at Immingham on the south side of the Humber Estuary, the laying of a gas transportation pipeline from Immingham to Theddlethorpe on the east coast of Lincolnshire, and the construction of a gas transportation facility at Theddlethorpe. The proposed development aims to transport and store up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2030, rising to 15 million tonnes by 2035.

An Examination held in respect of the pipeline opened on 26 March 2024 and closed on 26 September 2024. The Secretary of State received the Examining Authority’s Report in December 2024, but subsequently indicated that the statutory deadline for the decision had been reset to 5 June 2025. Three separate information requests were then issued in January and March 2025, before the Development Consent Order was made in April.

The Application/Examination process embraced the period of publication, consultation and designation of the new suite of Energy NPSs. In determining to make the Order, the Secretary of State had regard to the designated 2024 NPSs including the revised NPS EN-4 (2024), which sets out that natural gas use, as well as decarbonising industry, is consistent with the aims of reaching net zero by 2050. The Secretary of State further observed that there was nothing contained within the 2024 NPSs that would lead him to reach a different decision on the Application than would have been reached having regard to the 2011 NPSs.

The Secretary of State attached very great weight to the principle of the development, and concluded that the national need for the proposed development as set out in the relevant NPSs was not outweighed by its potential adverse impacts, as mitigated by the proposed terms of the Order.

Alexander Booth KC, instructed by Burges Salmon, advised and acted for the successful applicant, Chrysaor Production (UK) Limited, appearing at the Examination.