EU-project COREu kicked offCarbon Capture and Storage as a driver for decarbonizing - EU-project COREu kicked off

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a necessary driver for decarbonising the economy in Europe. The Horizon Europe project COREu will set the path for a successful expansion of CCS technology and brings together over 40 key partners from industry and science.

Steinbeis Europa Zentrum supports one of the largest research and innovation projects in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) ever funded by a European programme. The kick-off meeting, held on 31 January and 1 February 2024 in Trondheim, brought together representatives from over 40 industrial and scientific partners from all over Europe.

Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is responsible for the work package 6 “Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation” which aims to contribute to building positive momentum for CCS across the EU by mobilizing key stakeholders, i.e. beyond the consortium, and creating an innovative framework for shared commitment leading to accelerated deployment of safe, sustainable and resilient pathways for CCS in Europe.

“It's essential to get CCS off the ground all over Europe in order to create a market big enough for commercialisation of the needed technologies and services. And we are helping that with a project that is meant to close the divide between northern countries and the rest of Europe,” said Chiara Caccamo, Research Manager at SINTEF and Coordinator of COREu.

COREu aims to establish an openly accessible, cross-border infrastructure and logistics network for CCS, connecting emitters and storage sites across Europe. Its main objectives include:

• Accelerate CCS deployment by demonstrating safe and effective CO₂ transport and storage
• Increase the TRL of the CCS technologies developed
• Define economically viable, societal- and environmentally-aware business models for a sustainable upscaling of CCS deployment

COREu will develop critical technologies for the entire CCS value chain, including innovative tanks for transporting CO₂, simulation tools for estimating reservoir capacity and injection rates, and subsea autonomous vehicles for monitoring CO₂ leakages. Four routes will be established in the following regions: Prinos/Kavala in Greece, South Moravia in the Czech Republic, Baltic/Gdansk in Poland and Western Ukraine. COREu will also initiate emitter clusters that promote demand and business rationale for investments in CCS.

The consortium of more than 40 partners features a broad set 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 UK and Germany. The expertise that the partners bring to CCS from these different sectors will enable the project to create a framework that contributes to the expansion of CCS.

The consortium of COREu consists of the following members:

• SINTEF ENERGI AS, Norway, Coordinator
• Energean Oil & Gas - Energeiaki Aigaiou Anonymi ET, Greece
• Energean Italy S.P.A., Italy Affiliated
• Elpedison Paragogi Ilektrikis Energeia Monoproso, Greece
• Cao Hellas Thessaliki Asvestopoiia Monoprosopi A, Greece
• Ethniko Kentro Erevnas Kai Technologikis Anapty, Greece
• Buse Gas S.A., Greece
• Mnd A.S. , Czech Republic
• Ceska Geologicka Sluzba, Czech Republic
• Unigeo A.S. , Czech Republic
• Instytut Nafty I Gazu - Panstwowy Instytut Badaw, Poland
• Lotos Petrobaltic S.A., Poland
• Ukrainian Research And Development Institute Of Gas, Ukraine
• Prime Carbon Storage And Transport Ltd, Cyprus
• Gas Vessel Production Proizvodnja In Inzenirske Dejavnosti Doo, Slovenia
• Macgregor Norway As, Norway
• Can Systems As, Norway
• Desfa, Greece
• Grtgaz, France
• Open Grid Europe GmbH, Germany
• Opengosim Ltd, United Kingdom
• Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany
• Saipem, Italy
• Sgs Societe Generale De Surveillance Sa, Switzerland
• Motor Oil (Hellas) Diilistiria Korinthou A.E., Greece
• Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam Deutschesgeoforsc, Germany
• Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, Greece
• Ethniko Asteroskopeio Athinon, Greece
• Universita Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza, Italy
• Stiftelsen Norsk Institutt For Naturforskning Nin, Norway
• Alma Mater Studiorum - Universita Di Bologna, Italy
• Bellona Europa Aisbl, Belgium
• Sintef As, Norway
• Sviluppo Tecnologie E Ricerca Per L'edilizia Sismica, Italy
• Perspectives Climate Research Ggmbh, Germany
• Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zuerich, Switzerland
• Wearestarting S.R.L., Italy
• Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH, Germany
• Noesis Technologies Ike, Greece
• Domina Srl, Italy
• Gerg Le Groupe Europeen De Recherches Gazieres, Belgium
• Stara Glass Spa, Italy
• Glass Futures Ltd., United Kingdom

Project Coordinator:

Chiara Caccamo, Research Manager, SINTEF Energy Research Gas Technology

Chiara.Caccamo@sintef.no