In focus: Is Europe the heart of the energy transition?

It is just the second week of the new year ahead of us, however, European authorities and industry are not wasting any time on acting upon carbon reduction efforts. This week saw the European Union launch a number of initiatives, making us wonder whether 2023 will be the year of big changes.

In order to accelerate reaching the EU’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the European Commission approved a €1.1 billion Danish scheme to support the roll-out of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.

Under a 20-year contract, the beneficiary selected through a competitive tendering procedure will capture and store an annual minimum of 0.4 million tonnes of CO2 as of 2026, contributing to Denmark’s efforts of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030.

EU is supporting the energy industry with CCS development through other funding initiatives, as well. The EU Innovation Fund is awarding a €4.5 million grant to four Belgian companies – Prefer, Fluxys Belgium, Lhoist, and Orbix – for the CO2ncrEAT project to capture, transport, and reuse CO2.

The project was born out of carbonation technology developed by Orbix that is said to enable a path for the sustainable reuse of certain steel industry co-products. The technology involves triggering a reaction between those materials and CO2 in the manufacture of construction elements.

In addition, WHISPER, a project comprising 14 partners which will include retrofitting ships to achieve emission reductions, has been granted €9.2 million in funding from Horizon Europe.

The goal of the project is to develop a solution that can significantly reduce emissions from the long-distance maritime industry, which is responsible for around 2.5 per cent of the world’s total CO2 emissions.

Talking about CCS, Norway’s government gathered applications from six companies related to acreage on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to be allocated for the injection and storage of CO2.

The country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is also inviting applications for another area in the North Sea that would be used for the same purpose.

The UK, the global leader in offshore wind energy, has always been at the forefront of renewables. Earlier this week, the Environmental Audit Committee of the United Kingdom called for a greater strategic focus on tidal energy, highlighting its potential to contribute to energy security in the long term.

In its latest report, the Committee sets out how the UK can accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and secure energy supplies to tackle the energy affordability, security and sustainability crises.

The UK made another major effort to accelerate the transition to net zero with the opening of the National Subsea Centre (NSC), a center of excellence for subsea research and technology development established to provide advanced research.

In the neighborhood, the Scottish government released a draft energy strategy, which aims to shape the country’s next 25 years of energy production, which includes the possibility of reducing oil and gas production and putting an end to new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

To conclude with supporting evidence, a recent report by energy market research and consultancy firm Westwood stated that high-impact drilling activity in Europe is expected to fall slightly this year compared to the previous year, with South America set to continue to be a key region for high-impact exploration.