An update on the state-of-play on CO2 geological storage in Europe

Summary The presentation provides a detailed collation of geological storage options and the status of capacity assessment, as well as the current advancement on CCS project implementation from research to commercial scale, in 32 European countries as of December 31st 2020. Furthermore, drivers and challenges for CCS project implementation are assessed shedding light on current national policies and climate-protection strategies, research priorities and legislation and regulations in place that affect CO2 storage operations. A first assessment made in 2013, a predecessor of the present study, was concentrated essentially on power generation. Our current summary reveals a broader application of CCS in Europe, now focusing on CO2 emissions from industrial sectors that are more challenging to abate, such as chemical, steel and cement plants as well as geothermal plants and the decarbonisation of hydrogen production. In addition, transport networks with hubs and clusters have developed in recent years with so- called “projects of common interest” as nuclei. At the same time, companies and sites offering a ‘CO2 transport and storage service’ are emerging. Overall, in the last few years, a clear progress can be observed in the roll-out of CO2 storage in Europe through new national climate targets, policies and commercial/demonstration projects.