Carbon capture and storage as drivers for decarbonization - EU project COREu launches

Carbon capture and storage are necessary drivers for the decarbonization of the European economy. The Horizon Europe project COREu will pave the way for a successful expansion of CCS technology and brings together over 40 key partners from industry and academia.

With COREu, Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum is supporting one of the largest research and innovation projects in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS) ever funded by a European program. The kick-off event, which took place on January 31 and February 1, 2024 in Trondheim, Norway, was attended by representatives from over 40 industrial and scientific partners from all over Europe.

Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum is responsible for the "Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation" work package and is helping to create positive momentum for CCS across the EU. It will raise awareness and mobilize key stakeholders, including beyond the consortium, and create an innovative framework for joint engagement leading to an accelerated deployment of safe, sustainable and resilient CCS pathways in Europe.

"It is important to get CCS up and running across Europe to create a market large enough to commercialize the technologies and services needed. And we are helping with a project that aims to close the gap between the northern countries and the rest of Europe," says Chiara Caccamo, Head of Research at SINTEF and coordinator of COREu.

COREu aims to build an open-access, cross-border infrastructure and logistics network for CCS, connecting emitters and storage sites across Europe. The main objectives include:

• Accelerating CCS deployment by demonstrating safe and effective CO2 transportation and storage
• Increasing the TRL of developed CCS technologies
• Defining economically viable, socially and environmentally sound business models for a sustainable expansion of CCS deployment

COREu will develop critical technologies for the entire CCS value chain, including innovative tanks for CO2 transportation, simulation tools for estimating reservoir capacity and injection rates, and autonomous underwater vehicles for CO2 leakage monitoring. Four routes will be established in the following regions: Prinos/Kavala in Greece, South Moravia in the Czech Republic, Baltics/Gdansk in Poland and Western Ukraine. COREu will also initiate clusters of emitters to promote the demand and business case for investment in CCS.

The consortium of more than 40 partners is characterized by a broad spectrum of competencies: Emitters, technology providers, gas transmission system operators, oil and gas companies, research institutes and universities from Norway, Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and Germany. The expertise that the partners bring from these different sectors will enable the project to create a framework that contributes to the dissemination of CCS.