Thirteen carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects were submitted by the May 2011 deadline for a share of the fund set up to support CCS and renewables projects across the European Union.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), with help from external consultants, has spent nine months evaluating each submitted project against the bank's technical and financial due diligence criteria. Those that pass will still have to undergo an eligibility check, which includes an assessment of whether the project is “sufficiently innovative” to qualify for funding.
Twenty one EU member states submitted a total of 78 proposals to the scheme, including 65 renewables projects. Seven countries applied for funding for 13 CCS projects.
Up to three projects in each member state may eventually be supported. A representative of the EC's Directorate-General for Climate Action said previously that projects remaining in the competition would have to “wait until the very end to know if they have been lucky”.
Among those expected to drop out of the competition are two CCS projects – Longannet in Scotland, and Germany’s Jänschwalde CCS demonstration. The UK government confirmed in October last year that the ₤1 billion Longannet project had been scrapped after failing to reach a deal with the Scottish-Power led consortium behind the proposals. Last December, Vattenfall cancelled its plans for the €1.5 billion Jänschwalde CCS demonstration, citing a "lack of political will" to support the introduction of necessary CCS legislation.
The EC announced last month that the EIB has raised €97.8 million from the sale of 12 million EU carbon permits (EUAs) during December 2011. The bank has the mandate to sell 200 million EUAs by October, with revenue from the sales used to fund renewable energy and CCS projects across the EU.
For more details on the projects that originally applied to the NER300 fund, read ZERO’s article.
Read EC press release, 6 February 2012
