The ENSIGN project is pleased to congratulate colleagues at Heriot-Watt University on their role in MaxStoreUK – Maximising the UK geological storage resource, a new EPSRC-funded project led by the British Geological Survey in collaboration with the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) and The University of Manchester.

British Geological Survey – MaxStoreUK

MaxStoreUK will investigate the UK’s subsurface capacity for CO₂ and hydrogen storage, providing clear and tailored information on storage opportunities for industrial clusters to operators, regulators and policymakers. The project will build on previous IDRIC research to improve understanding of storage performance and risk, with a focus on supporting investment and policy decisions for low-carbon infrastructure.

This work closely complements ENSIGN’s ambition to develop an Integrated Energy System–Digital Twin (IES-DT) for future multi-vector energy systems. By coupling improved data and insights on subsurface storage with ENSIGN’s digital representations of electricity, heat and hydrogen networks, the combined research will help enable more robust, whole-system planning for net-zero industrial clusters.

Researchers within Work Package 5: Industrial Cluster Digital Twin, based at Heriot-Watt University, will support and coordinate the university’s contribution to MaxStoreUK, ensuring strong links between geological storage characterisation and ENSIGN’s industrial cluster models.

Together, ENSIGN and MaxStoreUK will provide decision-makers with better tools and evidence to design, test and deliver resilient, affordable and low-carbon energy and storage solutions for the UK’s industrial heartlands