The project, backed by the Capture Power consortium, was the only eligible submission for the European Commission’s NER300 competition in April this year.
Brussels originally set out to support up to 12 CCS schemes but failed to identify suitable projects in earlier funding rounds.
The final decision was nonetheless warmly welcomed by the Capture Power consortium made up of coal generator Drax Power, Alstom and BOC.
“We’re delighted that the European Commission has made this important NER300 award decision in favour of the White Rose Project,” said Capture Power’s chief executive Leigh Hackett.
“The NER300 award represents another significant milestone for us in our development programme and an important potential source of funding for the Project, as well as providing a strong signal for CCS in Europe,” she added.
The grant from Brussels, worth around £240 million, will supplement £1 billion from the UK government which is to be split between the White Rose and Peterhead CCS schemes.
Both schemes are undergoing front end engineering and design (Feed) studies in preparation to make final investment decisions late next year.
The White Rose project entails a new 426MW coal-fired power station on the Drax site, fitted with equipment to capture around 90 per cent of the emissions and pipe them to storage reservoirs under the North Sea.