TEN-E Factsheet: Carbon capture and storage the missing piece of the puzzle

The European Commission has released its proposed revision of the Trans-European Energy Infrastructure regulation, also known as EU TEN-E, in mid-December. The TEN-E regulation defines the criteria for the next round of Projects of Common Interest (PCI), necessitating TEN-E to be fully compliant with and enable to deliver on climate ambition.

While the update and revision of the TEN-E regulation to be in line with climate ambition is welcome, the European Commission’s draft neglects geologic storage as an integral part of the value chain of carbon capture removal and storage.

Carbon capture removal and storage technologies will form an important cornerstone of Europe’s path towards climate neutrality, as various modelling scenarios from organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency, and the European Commission’s own analysis have shown. With the research clear, these findings now need to be reflected in regulation around global infrastructure planning.