How CCUS and ECCSEL ERIC are embedded in national strategies, roadmaps and funding programmes, both at EU country level and within in-country regions

The ECCSELERATE project under ECCSEL ERIC released a new deliverable (D4.1)

Abstract:

ECCSEL is the European Research Infrastructure on CO₂ Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS), a key climate change mitigation technology. It is recognised by the European SET Plan Implementation Working Group n°9 on CCS and CCU as ’a world-class research infrastructure facilitating ambitious R&D activities, European industrial initiatives, and education of specialists for the new CCUS industry.’

ECCSEL has the legal status of ERIC since 2017, with 5 founding members: Norway (statutory seat), France, Italy, the Netherlands, UK. The Horizon 2020 ECCSELERATE project (2020-2022) is currently supporting the operational phase of ECCSEL ERIC to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Since ECCSEL ERIC is a pan-European distributed research infrastructure, its long-term sustainability is dependent on the evolution of national and in-country regional policies on CCUS. For enabling ECCSEL ERIC to develop as a key research and innovation tool for CCUS technology development in European countries, it is important that CCUS is included in national and regional strategies, roadmaps and funding programmes, whether they are related to research infrastructures, research and innovation, energy transition or climate change mitigation. This will facilitate:

• Long-term commitment of the ECCSEL ERIC founding country members and the involvement of new country members;
• Access to national and regional funds for building new ECCSEL research facilities and for performing research and innovation projects using existing ECCSEL facilities and services;
• Development of a wider offer of ECCSEL facilities and services to users for various technology readiness levels (TRLs);
• A more balanced development of the European Research Area.

Therefore, this report (ECCSELERATE Deliverable 4.1) gives an inventory and synthesis of the current CCUS situation in the founding member countries and in countries targeted for joining ECCSEL. This will be useful on one hand to guide the future actions of ECCSEL and its members, and on the other hand to inform national and in-country regional stakeholders about the relevance of CCUS for enabling carbon neutrality and the possible ways to accelerate research, demonstration and deployment, notably with the help of ECCSEL. The report will be updated in the last year of the project (ECCSELERATE Deliverable 4.2) in order to highlight the evolution through time.