Dear Supporters,
Dave Parkin, CEO of Peak Cluster, has been busy defending the project in today’s Wirral Globe (6th May).
https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/26080603.pipeline-chief-hits-back-councillor-campaigner/
Responding to criticism from local councillors and Action Against CCS, he insisted:
“Peak Cluster is not about greenwashing or ticking boxes. The project is developing the infrastructure needed to secure a reliable supply of sustainable, British-made cement and lime... Importing cement and lime from overseas will leave Britain increasingly exposed to tariffs, global price rises and supply chain disruption.”
The article also quotes the Mineral Products Association (MPA), which blames falling UK cement production on rising costs and changes to carbon taxation. According to the MPA, cheap cement imports have nearly tripled over 16 years - from 12% of the market in 2008 to 32% in 2024.
Peak Cluster itself admits it does not aim to increase cement production. Its purpose is to capture and store up to 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year from existing Peak District cement plants.
But the market is already moving elsewhere
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/new-35m-terminal-built-merseyside-31680024
Peel Ports and Medcem Cement clearly see the future differently. They are currently completing a £35 million cement import terminal at Gladstone Dock in Liverpool to bring in low-carbon cement from Europe.
Medcem’s Enver Celikbas states:
“This new terminal significantly strengthens our presence in the UK market, consolidating our position as the leading provider of low-carbon cement and cementitious materials in Europe.”
If European producers are already supplying low-carbon cement at scale, how exactly will Peak District cement plants compete - especially when Peak Cluster does not increase their output?
The numbers simply don’t add up
At the Floral Pavilion, Dave Parkin confirmed that Peak District cement plants currently pay around £50 per tonne in carbon tax under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Using the Peak Cluster pipeline to dispose of their CO2 would cost them around £150 per tonne.
That makes their cement even less competitive. So the Government would step in with a Contract for Difference, meaning taxpayers cover the gap - roughly £100 per tonne.
If Peak Cluster stores 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year, that implies a taxpayer subsidy of £300 million annually.
Despite repeated questions, Peak Cluster has provided limited detail about its funding model. But it is becoming clearer: this project is not primarily about saving the Peak District cement industry.
Why build a £5billion pipeline to save 4 struggling cement factories?
The Morecambe Bay gas fields can store 1 gigatonne of CO2 - one thousand million tonnes. Peak Cluster’s contribution would fill just 0.3% of that capacity each year.
Why go to the trouble of building a 200km pipeline, numerous “connecting” AGIs and a huge industrial compression plant on the coast to transport just to use a fraction of the storage potential?
Because the real prize is not UK cement emissions - it’s the ability to sell Morecambe Bay as a CO2 disposal site for Europe’s heavy polluters.
Spirit Energy, a Peak Cluster partner, is 69% owned by Centrica and owns the Morecambe Bay fields. Essar Oil’s Tranmere terminal and Stanlow is perfectly placed to receive CO2 shipped in from overseas as part of the “West Coast CO2 shipping and storage corridor”
By presenting the scheme as “vital for the cement industry”, the consortium can push the project through politically while securing taxpayer support for the upfront infrastructure.
Parkin has his narrative - and he’s sticking to it
CEO Dave Parkin continues to frame Peak Cluster as a lifeline for “British-made cement”. Perhaps he hopes that if he repeats his story often enough, then people will believe it? The evidence increasingly suggests that Peak Cluster is less about protecting the cement industry and more about creating a CO2 dumping hub for international polluters with massive UK state subsidies.
Please consider donating to Action Against CCS to help the legal fighting fund to STOP PEAK CLUSTER:
Thank you for your support - we must stop this madness!