Germany launches CCUS support

Germany's economy and energy ministry is preparing a subsidy programme aimed at supporting the country's raw material industry in developing technologies for carbon capture and utilisation or storage (CCU/CCS).

The ministry last week published a "CO2 avoidance and use in raw material industries" funding directive, which is scheduled to go live on 1 May.

The new programme will support companies in developing CCU/CCS technologies "towards market maturity", the ministry said.

Supported technologies will include the necessary infrastructure for storing CO2 in the North Sea, direct air technology in combination with CCS (DACCS), and the use of bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).

The budget has been set at €105mn for 2021, then an initial €120mn/yr until 2025.

The ministry expects the support programme to stimulate not just a CCU/CCS process chain, but also a "CCU/CCS ecosystem" in Germany. The goal is to establish the necessary technological and process expertise, then secure and pool it.

The programme must also look at securing acceptance for CCU/CCS as a "bridging technology" towards decarbonising industry.

The ministry announced last week a tender for managing the programme.

The successful bidder will support the ministry and participating companies in preparing the notification process at the European Commission.

The manager will also ensure the programme makes good use of synergies with other existing support programmes for CCU/CCS technologies, both domestic and outside Germany.

Germany's industry emits around 180mn t/yr of CO2 equivalent, of which around 30-40pc is process-linked and cannot be avoided using today's state of the art technology, the ministry said.

By Chloe Jardine