The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) received bids for more than 2 million acres of seabed by closure of the UK’s second carbon storage licensing round on March 24.
The applications pave the way for further carbon stores in the UK and highlight the sustained progress in the sector which has experienced a series of landmark developments in the past few months as existing projects head towards first injection.
The second carbon storage licensing round was launched in December 2025, following consultation with The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, and other seabed users, and was launched after receiving expressions of interest.
It is hoped that, if licences are offered in these areas, they will build on the success of the four storage permits already awarded in two different locations in the UK.
Track 1 project Endurance was granted a storage permit allowing it to move towards a possible first injection date in 2028 while the second Track 1 project, HyNet, was awarded three storage permits, which will also allow it to target first injection in 2028.
Endurance, off the coast of Teesside, also recently started drilling an appraisal well, which follows the one spudded in the Hewett field in the Southern North Sea by the Bacton CCS project.