Three projects in Norway have been selected for EU Innovation Fund support totalling almost NOK 3.3 billion (about €314 million), covering offshore CO₂ storage, carbon capture from the air and wind turbine manufacturing. Enova announced the Norwegian selections on 19 October.
The projects involve Aker BP, Sirona Technologies and Aker Solutions. They form part of a European funding round in which the European Commission selected 77 projects for €3.4 billion in support, spread across 23 countries in the European Economic Area.
Selection is a step towards a grant agreement. It does not mean that the full sums have already been paid to the companies.
Shipping captured CO₂ to offshore storage
Aker BP and Höegh Evi say their Atlas project has been selected for €223 million. The planned network would collect captured CO₂ at export hubs near European industrial clusters, ship it to the Norwegian continental shelf and inject it through subsea infrastructure into a saline aquifer more than 2,000 metres below the seabed.
The companies describe a design capacity of 6 million tonnes a year, with scope for later expansion. They are targeting a final investment decision in 2028 and first injection from 2031. Those dates are project targets, and implementation remains subject to the investment decision.
Capturing carbon directly from the air in Øygarden
Sirona Technologies plans a plant at Øygarden, west of Bergen, using capture equipment housed in containers. Its Project Furu is being developed with CCB Energy, next to the Northern Lights CO₂ transport and storage facility.
Direct air capture separates CO₂ from ambient air, rather than capturing it at an industrial exhaust. Sirona’s roadmap envisages capture capacity of 10,000 tonnes a year in 2029. The company says its initial equipment will operate in capture-and-release mode until CarbonLink, a shared system intended to connect smaller volumes to Northern Lights, is available. Capturing CO₂ and permanently storing it are therefore separate steps.
Automating wind turbine component production on Stord
Aker Solutions intends to use its support to develop a fully automated production line for offshore wind turbine components on Stord, according to Enova. This part of the Norwegian selection concerns manufacturing capacity, rather than the construction of a wind farm.
EU Innovation Fund grant agreements still need to be prepared
The Innovation Fund uses revenue from the EU Emissions Trading System, in which Norway participates. Enova acts as the fund’s national contact point and assisted the Norwegian applicants.
The Commission says the selected promoters have been invited to prepare grant agreements with CINEA, the EU agency responsible for climate, infrastructure and environment programmes. That process will settle the contracts, including budgets, timetables and technical and financial obligations. Its results are expected in the first quarter of 2027.
