The European Commission made public yesterday, 27 October, its decision to approve a EUR150 million aid from the Dutch state in favour of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project located in The Netherlands.
The aid will benefit a demonstration project coordinated by a joint venture between E.ON and GDF Suez that plans the construction of a CCS plan in the sea port area of Rotterdam. The plant will capture the carbon dioxide emitted by a coal-fired power plant - Maasvlakte Power Plant 3 - operated by E.ON (a 250 MW equivalent capture plant for an expected annual capture of 1.1 million tons of CO2). The construction of power plant has itself started in 2008 and is planned to reach full operation in 2011/2012. The project forms part of the initiative "Rotterdam Capture Storage and Demonstration Project" (ROAD), a partnership between E.ON, Electrabel and GDF Suez. The gas captured will then be transported by pipeline for storage in a depleted gas field under the P-18 A platform in the North Sea (20 km off the coast). See CATO-2 project.
This decision is among the first ones on CCS, and the first one encompassing the full-scale CCS chain from capture to storage. It is also one of the first decision that sees the application of the Environmental State Aid Guidelines to CCS.
As mentionned in the press release, the Commission concluded on the compatibility of the aid with the internal market and in particular EU state aid rules "because on balance, the positive effects of the measure outweigh the potential distortions of competition." Here the Commission insists on the obligation for the beneficiaries of the aid to share and disseminate information concerning the results of the project. It was also of the opinion that the "development of the large-scale CCS project would not take place, despite its strategic interest, without the aid, at least not before 2020 and that the aid provided an incentive to udnertake the project." It should also be noted that the project will receive additional financial support (EUR180 million) from the EU through the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). Finally, the project forms is included in the CCS Demonstration Project Network.
The text of the decision itself has not been made public yet. The present note consequently relies on the press release from the Commission. The decision will be posted on the SEL Notebook once published.
References:
- Press release, European Commission, 27.10.2010, IP/10/1392.
- State aid case N 381/2010, soon available on the EU state aid register.
Picture: Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy, (c) European Commission.
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