UK opens second carbon storage licensing round

December 9, 2025, by Nadja Skopljak

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has opened its second carbon storage licensing round, offering 14 locations offshore Scotland and England for exploration and appraisal, with the stores offering up to 2 gigatons of additional CO2 storage capacity.

The round, opened today, December 9, offers areas that fall into two broad categories, including depleted hydrocarbon fields selected by the NSTA, and saline aquifer sites identified following a Call for Nominations, which earlier this year enabled industry partners to indicate sites of interest that offered a greater chance of successful project delivery.

Five areas will be in Scottish waters, with nine off the coast of England.

The areas were chosen following extensive consultation with The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, among others. Successful applicants for a carbon storage license from the NSTA will require a seabed agreement from either Crown Estate Scotland or The Crown Estate in English waters before a project can progress.

The licensing round will run until March 24, 2026, after which applications will be reviewed with the aim of awarding licenses in early 2027.

“The UK Government has signalled its total support for carbon storage and the jobs and investment it can create as a vital part of the energy transition,” said Stuart Payne, NSTA Chief Executive. “We are proud to be launching this licensing round, working in collaboration with other authorities especially Crown Estate Scotland and The Crown Estate to support this vital industry in the next stage of its development.”

The UK’s first carbon storage licensing round in September 2023 saw the award of 21 carbon storage licenses. The NSTA subsequently awarded the first storage permits to two projects – Endurance and HyNet – allowing them to proceed towards first injection.

The Endurance site, off the coast of Teesside, which could store up to 100 million tons of CO2, received a permit in December 2024, and Liverpool Bay-based HyNet, which could also store up to 100 million tons of CO2 over 25 years, received three permits in April 2025.