Billion-pound pipe goes 'trenchless' to protect famous North Wales beach

North Wales Live

17-06-2025

A multi-billion pound project to lay pipes on the North Wales coast has been tweaked to accommodate shipping lanes – and a tiny bird. A pipeline is planned at Talacre, Flintshire, to shift carbon dioxide (CO2 ) captured from industrial plants out under the sea to empty gas reservoirs beneath Liverpool Bay.
The Point of Ayr terminal is to be modified so it can receive and export CO2 to offshore fields for storage. The proposed pipeline will also carry electric and fibre optic cables from Talacre to the New Douglas offshore platform.
The two-year HyNet North West Project was green-lighted last year, and received a marine licence in May. But a new pipeline route is now planned and the developer has also given more details about the way it's being laid.
During construction, the works will have a major impact on the village of Talacre and some effects on the tens of thousands of holidaymakers who visit its famous beach each year. Works and deliveries will be scheduled outside peak tourism periods 'as far as practicable'.
Following concerns raised about the potential impact on vessel movements in and out of the Port of Mostyn, the pipeline has been realigned some 250 metres further east along Talacre beach. This will place it an extra 250 metres (2.3km in total) away from the Little Tern colony at Gronant dunes in neighbouring Denbighshire.
The applicant, Liverpool Bay CCS Limited (LBCCS), a member of the Eni SpA group, said this means the pipeline will pass through an area with less than 1.5% of the Terns' foraging distribution and activity area. The Gronant dunes are home to the only breeding colonies in Wales, and are internationally recognised for their avian significance.
Given the project's proximity to environmentally sensitive sites on the Dee Estuary SPA, RSPB Cymru had pressed for 'robust mitigation measures' and further 'enhancements'.
The pipeline itself is to run 2.5 metres under the beach and dunes. This is to be installed using a 'trenchless' technique called horizontal directional drilling (HDD).
For this, an 3m sq entry pit must be dug northwest of the Port of Ayr terminal, running to an exit pit on the foreshore. Here, a temporary steel container known as a sump will be buried three-metres deep to capture any fluids emitted from the drilling process.
Once the conduit is in place, cables will be brought to the beach by boat and pulled through by a cable laying vessel anchored offshore.
LBCCS said: 'HDD allows us to lay cables underground without disturbing the land above. For HDD, we only need to dig small exit and entry pits on either side of the area.
'As we will be drilling underneath the sand dunes, instead of digging through them, it will minimise disruption and environmental impact to the area.'
The intertidal works are envisaged to take up to eight weeks, split between trenchless drilling and cable pulling. During drilling, estimated to take four weeks, some locations will be closed off entirely to the public.
In response to concerns raised by Ramblers Cymru, temporary diversions will be arranged across the dunes for pedestrian use. This includes a temporary diversion of the Wales Coastal Path.
As works traffic will need to access Talacre Beach car park, where possible this will be undertaken during quieter times. The same applies to works adjacent to Point of Ayr Holiday Park and Haven Presthaven Holiday Park.
The wider project will take much longer, around 27 months. During this time, excavations will be covered or securely fenced, and temporary screens will be erected around site compounds to protect nearby properties from dust and noise.
Subject to planning permission, HDD conduit construction, and cable installation, is expected to start in February to April 2026. The revised timing of the HDD exit pitworks on the foreshore has been scheduled for February 2026, which is outside of the Little Tern breeding season.
The cable shore pull, and simultaneous lay and burial, by the cable laying vessel, are scheduled for July 2026 at the end of the Little Tern breeding season, close to their migratory departure. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
To avoid any 'major conflict', the cable laying vessel will be positioned to allow safe and unobstructed passage of ships and boats into and out of the Port of Mostyn. The cable team will stay in continuous communication and the port's vessel traffic control to make any adjustments if needed.
A new public consultation has been launched to generate feedback on the proposals. This began yesterday (Monday, June 16,) and runs until 11.59pm on July 14. You can provide feedback or submit enquiries by emailing [e-mail] or sending letters to Freepost LBCCS (you don't need a stamp).