EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for the "European Investment Atlas of Potential CO₂ Storage Sites" (HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-26)

1. Single Market Access

- Pan-European customer base for CCS services: A validated, harmonised atlas instantly serves emitters across 27 Member States (+Associated Countries) looking for storage options to comply with EU-ETS and forthcoming Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF).

- De-risked investment decisions: Uniform data on capacity, injectivity and readiness levels lowers due-diligence costs for industrial clusters, energy utilities, and financial institutions operating EU-wide.

- First-mover advantage: Consortia can position themselves as reference providers of storage intelligence just as the NZIA requires 50 Mt CO₂/y storage by 2030, unlocking a market conservatively valued at €8–10 bn/yr in transport & storage fees alone.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

- Mandatory multi-national consortium: Geological basins (e.g., North Sea, Baltic, Pannonian, Lusitanian) transcend national borders; joint mapping ensures coherent pressure-management and avoidance of transboundary interference.

- Leveraging national geological surveys: 30+ surveys (EuroGeoSurveys network) already hold key seismic and petrophysical data; the project formalises data-sharing MOUs, creating a template for future CCS infrastructure projects.

- Interoperability with EU transport corridors: Results plug into PCI/Projects of Common Interest CO₂ pipelines and shipping routes, fostering coordinated planning between ports, hubs and emitters in different countries.

3. Strong Alignment with EU Policies

- European Green Deal & Fit-for-55: Provides an essential enabler for hard-to-abate sectors to reach the −55 % GHG target.

- Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA): Directly addresses Article 18 storage obligation (50 Mt CO₂/y by 2030) and informs national "storage contribution plans".

- TEN-E Regulation (EU) 2022/869: Atlas acts as a critical input for identifying cross-border CO₂ network infrastructure eligible for PCI status and CEF funding.

- Digital Europe & Data Spaces: Creation of an open, FAIR-compliant subsurface data layer complements the Common European Green Deal Data Space initiative.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

- Standardised "Storage Readiness Levels": Provides a de facto EU standard that regulators can adopt, streamlining permitting across jurisdictions.

- Compliance with the CCS Directive (2009/31/EC): Harmonised assessment of containment integrity, monitoring plans and cross-border liability clarifies legal responsibilities, increasing investor confidence.

- Facilitated mutual recognition: Comparable ranking allows regulators to accept geological evidence produced in another Member State, accelerating licensing for operators active in multiple basins.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

- World-class research infrastructure: Use of European Plate Observing System (EPOS), GeoERA, and Copernicus services yields high-resolution geodata without national paywalls.

- Synergy with Mission Innovation & ERA-Net ACT: Ongoing CCS demonstration projects supply real-world injection data that can calibrate atlas models.

- Talent mobility: Marie Skłodowska-Curie & EIT RawMaterials networks provide expertise in geophysics, reservoir modelling and digital twins, reducing HR bottlenecks.

6. Funding Synergies & Leverage

- Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Energy): Atlas outputs underpin CEF proposals for CO₂ pipelines or shipping terminals.

- Innovation Fund & ETS revenues: Identified storage hubs can anchor large-scale demonstration projects seeking >€100 m grants.

- Just Transition Fund (JTF): Coal & lignite regions in transition can pivot assets (e.g., depleted coal seams) into storage sites, attracting JTF support.

- European Investment Bank (EIB): The Bank’s new Carbon Capture Policy cites transparent storage data as a prerequisite for project finance—this atlas satisfies that requirement.

7. Scale & Impact Potential

- EU-wide decarbonisation accelerator: By 2030, atlas-backed hubs could enable 15–20 % of the EU’s required industrial CO₂ abatement.

- Replicability beyond EU: Methodology can be exported to Energy Community Contracting Parties, advancing the EU’s external climate diplomacy.

- Digital public good: An open, version-controlled platform (e.g., INSPIRE-compliant) fosters continuous updates from operators, turning the atlas into a living marketplace for capacity trading.

8. Strategic Value of Operating at EU Scale

1. Market Liquidity: Aggregating dispersed storage capacities creates a liquid EU-wide marketplace, driving down transport tariffs through competition.

2. Risk Pooling: Cross-border portfolio of sites diversifies geological and political risks, lowering overall cost of capital.

3. Policy Influence: Consortium output will likely shape future amendments to the CCS Directive and NZIA delegated acts, giving participants early regulatory intelligence.

4. Economies of Scale in Digital Infrastructure: One pan-European platform avoids duplicative national databases, achieving ~30 % cost savings relative to 27 separate systems.

5. Enhanced Security of Storage: Coordinated management of pressure fronts and fault integrity across borders prevents negative externalities, protecting public acceptance of CCS.

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Bottom Line: Pursuing this grant at EU level unlocks unparalleled benefits—integrated market access, harmonised regulation, superior data richness, and multi-source funding leverage—that cannot be achieved through isolated national initiatives. The resulting atlas becomes the cornerstone for Europe’s entire CCS value chain, accelerating the continent’s path to net-zero while creating a competitive advantage for participating organisations.