Ashurst Perkins Coie advised the UK government on signing two carbon capture projects, a firm release confirms. The advisory mandate places Ashurst at the centre of a transaction sequence that moves carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) developments from preferred-bidder status toward binding commercial agreements.

The release, issued under the firm's combined Ashurst Perkins Coie branding, identifies neither the projects, their locations, nor the industrial counterparties. It confirms only that Ashurst acted as legal counsel to the UK government during the signing process. The announcement names no financial figures, capture volumes, or storage capacities.

How does the UK sign CCUS deals?

That thin disclosure is consistent with how the UK structures its CCUS deployment. Projects reach commercial signings after passing through the government's cluster sequencing process, which selects preferred bidders and negotiates contracts before financial close. The signing stage sits between preferred bidder selection and final investment decision.

Once executed, the contracts typically cover three interlocking strands:

• 20-year-plus economic capture contracts between government and capture operators
• CO2 storage licences and regulatory consents issued under the UK storage regime
• Transportation and storage network access via shared pipeline and platform infrastructure

The signed contracts provide the revenue certainty that debt and equity providers require before financing closes. Final investment decision follows, at which point construction contracts become binding and procurement commences.

What remains undisclosed?

The announcement leaves several practical questions unanswered:

• Which two projects have signed?
• Are the projects located within an existing cluster or a successor programme?
• What capture volumes does each contract cover?
• What subsidy commitment backs each deal?
• Who are the industrial emitters and infrastructure operators behind each project?

UK government statements following CCUS signings have typically identified the projects, the contracted capture volume per site, and the financial envelope. That fuller record will likely appear in subsequent Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) or HM Treasury communications. Industry trade bodies and project consortia typically confirm their own roles separately once government disclosure lands.

Where does this sit in Ashurst's UK advisory practice?

Ashurst Perkins Coie operates from offices across London, continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and the US. The carbon capture mandate extends the firm's UK advisory work in the energy sector, where CCUS project signings require legal counsel across contract drafting, regulatory consents, storage permitting, and project finance documentation.

The combined firm has tracked UK CCUS policy through multiple iterations of the cluster sequencing process. Project signings remain rare transactional events: each one represents the conclusion of multi-year negotiations between government, capture operators, storage providers, and infrastructure owners. Legal counsel on the government side typically leads on contract architecture, state aid compliance, and the interface between commercial agreements and statutory storage licensing.

What to watch next

Two commercial markers follow the signing stage:

1. Final investment decision, which fixes the construction start
2. First CO2 injection, which marks operational status

DESNZ's CCUS investment pipeline publication will likely carry the project-level disclosure. Until that release, the two signings confirm that the UK CCUS contracting pipeline remains active, even where the underlying projects remain undisclosed. The next binding milestone will be the financial close and construction commencement for at least one of the two projects.

For Ashurst, the advisory mandate positions the firm on additional CCUS contracting rounds as the UK progresses further cluster sequencing processes. Each signing produces further workstreams spanning debt arrangement, hedging structures, and connection agreements with shared transport and storage networks.