CO2 storage project in Lithuania and Latvia with PCI status

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Reducing carbon emissions in transport and industry is a top priority for Baltic Sea countries. Because of this, in mid-May 2024, the European Commission gave the Project of Common Interest (PCI) status to the carbon capture and transport project in Lithuania and Latvia. This project was created by the CCS Baltic consortium.

What is a Common Interest Project?

The Common Interest Project is a major cross-border infrastructure initiative in the European Union’s energy sector. Its goals are to:

  • Integrate European markets for the free flow of electricity and gas between Member States.
  • Diversify energy supply sources and routes to reduce reliance on single suppliers and boost global energy security.
  • Prevent some Member States from being isolated from secure energy sources.
  • Build a low-emission economy in the EU by supporting projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

In the current round, 14 infrastructure projects made the list. Besides Projects of Common Interest, there are also Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) that focus on cooperation between EU countries and entities, as well as those outside the EU. PCI status offers several benefits, including faster permitting and administrative decisions, opportunities for cross-border cost allocation, and potential financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility.

CCS Baltic project

The CCS Baltic consortium was established in 2022 and includes Akmenės cementas, KN Energies, Larvik Shipping, Mitsui OSK Lines, and SCHWENK Latvija SIA. The goal of the initiative is to create a carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain in Lithuania and Latvia. This will involve capturing carbon dioxide from the industrial sector and transporting it by land and sea to permanent storage sites. Currently, the project is in the conceptual stage, with operations planned to begin in 2030.

Reinhold Schneider, CEO of Schwenk Northern Europe, commented on the European Commission’s decision: “Capturing carbon dioxide is a key task for our industry over the next decade. It’s a major technical challenge but essential for the sustainable development and competitiveness of greenhouse gas-intensive industrial plants like ours. To process and store the CO2 we aim to sequester, we need to collaborate with experienced industry players who can handle and deliver large quantities of this greenhouse gas. This is why we are part of the CCS Baltic Consortium, which aims to build the necessary infrastructure to store CO2 permanently in the Baltic region or deliver it to processing centers.”

Source: offshore-energy.biz

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