Six carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and nine offshore wind power projects are to benefit from a total or EUR1.5 billion of economic stimulus funding from the European Commission.
The EU executive has given final approval for the funds, which are designed to boost the region’s economy as well as keeping it on track to meet energy security and environmental goals.
Six CCS projects will receive a total of EUR1 billion, while the nine offshore wind projects get EUR565 million. The promotion of these technologies indicates the importance of low carbon energy systems to the future of the economy, said the Commission in a statement.
“With this decision the Commission has laid the foundation for the development of two key sustainable technologies that will be essential in our fight against climate change,” said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. “This unique decision by the Commission does not only give a push to the economy and employment, but also it supports innovative energy technologies that may create further jobs and growth in the future.”
The CCS projects benefiting from the funds include Vattenfall’s Jänshwalde power plant in Germany, Endesa’s Compostilla plant in Spain, Maasvlakte plant in the Netherlands, Hatfield in the UK and Belchatow in Poland. Each of these will receive EUR180 million.
In addition, Enel’s Porto-Tolle plant in Italy will get EUR100 million.
The offshore wind projects that will be supported include Essent’s Nordsee Ost project, which will receive EUR50 million and the Borkum West II project, which will receive just over EUR42 million.
In addition, Vattenfall Europe Transmission, Svenska Kraftnät and Energinet.dk have been granted EUR150 million to demonstrate the viability of an offshore grid connecting three wind farms in the Baltic Sea.
In a statement Vattenfall emphasised the importance of the funds to the development and commercialization of CCS technology. “We welcome this necessary support to our demonstration plant at Jänschwalde and other sites in Europe,” said Bjarne Korshøi, CCS Manager at Vattenfall. “It is vital to keep momentum in the further development of CCS. We need several successful CCS demonstration plants in Europe to make CCS commercially available by 2020 for large-scale deployment of the technology in the decades to come.”
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