EU Member States have endorsed a Commission proposal to invest €594 million of EU funds in eight cross-border energy infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Trans-European Networks for Energy. In the last call for funding proposals open to Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) from the 5th PCI list of November 2021, five carbon dioxide (CO2) networks projects, one gas storage project, and two projects in the electricity sector have been selected for funding.
At a time when there is increasing momentum for the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) to decarbonise hard-to abate sectors, an unprecedented amount of CEF funding for works (almost €480 million) will be awarded to four CO2 transport and storage projects. They constitute the first building blocks of a future Europe-wide carbon value chain that are scheduled for completion before the end of the decade and are therefore expected to contribute to the EU’s 2030 decarbonisation objectives.
A maximum of €189 million is intended for a CO2 export hub in the port of Dunkirk in France, called D’Artagnan. CEF will support the construction of a collecting pipeline and an export terminal to provide industrial sites in the port and its hinterland with a route to export their captured CO2 to storage sites abroad.
€157 million will be awarded to CO2 infrastructure inthe port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, consisting of an import terminal for the reception of CO2 from carbon capture sites in various Member States (CO2NEXT project, €33 million in CEF grant) and of a 200 km undersea trunkline (Aramis project, €124 million in CEF grant) connecting the port to the future CO2 storage site in a depleted gas field offshore.
Finally, €131 million is intended for the Northern Lights initiative, a cross-border project linking CO2 capture initiatives in several EU Member States with a future storage site at sea on the Norwegian continental shelf. The proposed CEF grant will support the expansion of the CO2 import terminal in Øygarden in Norway and the construction of a 100 km offshore pipeline to the storage site.
Regarding the electricity sector, funding for works worth €100 million will be awarded to the Gabreta smart grids project, located between Czechia and Germany. Gabreta will allow for the integration of renewable electricity, notably by reducing bottlenecks in connection requests, improving grid controllability, and enabling innovative market solutions.
The existing Depomures natural gas storage facility in Romania will receive funding worth €12.77 million to increase its working capacity and its daily injection and withdrawal rates. In line with the REPowerEU Plan, the upgrade of the Depomures storage makes an essential contribution to market integration and natural gas security of supply for Romania and its neighbouring countries by mitigating the lack of storage capacity in a region greatly affected by the gas crisis.
The EU CCS Interconnector, a CO2 infrastructure project Gdansk in in Poland, and the project to reinforce the Lonny-Achêne-Gramme electricity interconnector between France and Belgium will both be awarded CEF funding for studies necessary to their implementation, worth €2.54 million and €1.22 million respectively.