Trinomics, as lead partner, in collaboration with TNO and Ricardo-AEA, has been awarded a major contract by the European Commission’s DG Climate Action to support the review of Directive 2009/31/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CCS Directive). The EU Directive on the geological storage of CO₂was adopted by the European Council on April 6th, 2009 and entered into force on June 25th, 2009. The Directive sets out a regulatory regime for permitting of exploration of potential CO₂ storage sites and storage operations. Member States were given until 25 June 2011 to transpose the CCS Directive into their respective national laws. It should be noted that Directive 209/31/EC focuses on the storage part of the CCS chain. The main objective of the Directive is to regulate the safe and environmentally sound storage.

After five years, the CCS Directive requires a thorough review, in accordance with Article 38 of the Directive, to assess whether it still provides an adequate regulatory framework for CCS in the EU. The project team will therefore address the specific questions laid down in Articles 38(2) and 38(3), by assessing the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value of the CCS Directive. In addition, the team will provide an assessment on how the enabling policy of CCS at European level has in practice worked out so far.

The evaluation aims to expand and deepen the understanding to obtain a comprehensive view of the current state of the CCS market and the functioning of the CCS Directive therein. This thorough understanding will be obtained through an inclusive process with the relevant stakeholders, and will result in (policy) recommendations for action regarding the CCS Directive.

If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to contact Jeroen van der Laan.