The European Commission has authorised The Netherlands under EU state aid rules to provide a €150 million grant for a CO2 capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project to a joint venture between E.ON and GDF Suez. The joint venture will construct a CO2 capture plant in the Rotterdam port area with the aim to capture part of the CO2 emitted by E.ON’s coal-fired power plant and transport it to a depleted gas field in the North Sea for storage.
The CCS project has also been allocated €180 million EU funding under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). The EEPR is a financial instrument whose overall objective is to stimulate recovery from the downturn affecting the EU economy, while bringing the EU closer to meeting its energy and climate policy objectives. The project is also part of the European CCS Demonstration Project Network which will foster knowledge sharing of CCS demonstration projects.
A 250 MW equivalent CO2 capture plant, expected to capture annually 1.1 million tons of CO2, will be built next to and connected to E.ON´s coal fired Maasvlakte Power Plant 3. The captured CO2 will be transported through a pipeline to a nearby depleted gas field in the North Sea where it will be stored.
The development of CO2 capture and storage is part of the 2008 climate and energy package for reaching the EU 2020 environmental objectives. The Commission concluded that the Dutch State aid is an appropriate and proportionate measure necessary to achieve an objective of EU interest.