CEF Energy is playing a key role in developing Europe's carbon dioxide (CO₂) transport infrastructure - a vital part of the EU’s Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) strategy. Since 2019, the programme has co-funded 28 CO₂ network actions with over €979 million, focusing on the transport of captured CO₂ from industrial sites to permanent storage facilities.
These actions aim to build an EU-wide CO₂ infrastructure that connects multiple emission sources with storage sites, helping to reduce industrial emissions and support the EU’s goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. They also contribute to the European Industrial Carbon Management Strategy, which seeks to create a single, efficient CO₂ market across the EU.
So far, CEF Energy has supported the development of nearly 4,800 km of CO₂ pipelines, backed by compressor stations and buffer storage systems. Once completed, these networks will be able to transport over 231 million tonnes of CO₂ per year — linking European industries to storage sites both within the EU and in Norway, and laying the groundwork for a cleaner, more sustainable industrial future.
Flagship projects
The Northern Lights project is a cross-border initiative aiming to transport CO₂ captured from 10 industrial sites to Aurora - a geological storage facility located in the Norwegian continental shelf. The project is being developed in two phases: Phase 1 with a capacity to transport, inject and store up to 1.5 million tons of CO₂ per year; and Phase 2 (currently underway) expanding CO₂ storage capacity to 5 Mtpa and beyond, in response to the rising demand for permanent CO₂ storage.
CEF funding has co-financed both studies and construction works for Phase 2. Once construction works are completed, Northern Lights will be one of the first open-access CO₂ transport and storage networks in Europe, paving the way for a wider carbon management market and contributing significantly to the EU’s climate neutrality goals.
EU contribution: €135.2 million
CO₂ TransPorts is a project developing a major open-access cross-border network to transport CO₂ from industrial sources in the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and North Sea Port (Ghent) to offshore storage locations in depleted gas fields in the North Sea. The infrastructure will enable captured CO₂ to be collected, liquified and transported from these key industrial hubs to depleted gas fields for permanent underground storage. The project includes dedicated pipelines, liquefaction units, buffer storage facilities, CO₂ converters to prepare for onward transport, and surface and injection facilities.
CEF funding has supported three actions contributing to this project of common interest, including studies and construction works. The actions focus on the Rotterdam CCUS CO₂ transport backbone (Porthos) and Antwerp’s CO₂ Collection Network, as well as on the design of a cross-border pipeline linking the two systems. In the first operational phase, the pipelines in the Rotterdam area will have a transport capacity of 5 Mt CO₂/year, with the possibility to upgrade the capacity to 10 Mt CO₂/year. Once completed, CO₂ TransPorts will be a cornerstone of Europe’s emerging carbon management infrastructure, reducing industrial emissions and supporting the EU’s climate goals.
EU contribution: €114.3 million