Aker BP and Höegh Evi have secured €223m from the EU Innovation Fund for Atlas, a North Sea project that will carry captured CO2 from European industrial sites by ship and inject it into a saline aquifer more than 2,000 metres below the seabed. Initial capacity is 6 million tonnes a year, with room to grow past 10 million as storage demand builds. The project has moved from feasibility into selection, with a final investment decision targeted for 2028 and first injection planned for 2031. It is labelled an EU Project of Mutual Interest, which should ease cross-border permitting. The partners also received in-principle approval from DNV for 50,000 cubic metre liquefied CO2 carriers. The grant covers part of the infrastructure cost, but the bigger test is commercial. Atlas needs enough industrial emitters to fill its capacity at a price that beats paying for EU ETS allowances. If the storage and shipping costs land right, this becomes a model for other CCS corridors in Europe.
