Just one CCS project – the UK’s White Rose – has been submitted for the latest round of European Union funding. That means no scheme will be running by 2015, by which time the EU was aiming to have 10 to 12 projects active.
“It is a sign that Europe is losing the race for CCS commercialisation, which will be a major missed economic opportunity,” said Stephen Tindale, associate fellow of the Centre for European Reform.
In a draft report seen by Utility Week, Tindale said CCS should be mandatory for all new coal power stations and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme reformed to boost the carbon price. Following the latest news, he said the European Commission also had to find alternative sources of funding.
The White Rose project, at Drax power station in North Yorkshire, is competing with 32 renewables projects for a share of an estimated €700 million (£606 million) under phase two of the NER300 programme. If White Rose is awarded European money, it is expected to displace rather than supplement cash from the UK government’s £1 billion CCS competition.
When NER300 was set up in 2008, it was expected to raise €9 billion to support CCS from the sale of 300 million EU emissions allowances (EUAs). However, the EUA price has since collapsed from above €30/tonne of carbon dioxide to just over €4/tonne, slashing the funds available.