The incoming capital distribution marks a strategic shift compared to 2025 allocations, reallocating resources heavily toward pre-commercial CO2 storage readiness, regional infrastructure development, and integrated carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) value chains.

The package comprises five distinct funding allocations tailored to specific technological and regulatory bottlenecks across the European carbon management landscape:

  • €43.8 Million: Dedicated to efficient CO2 capture, purification, and utilisation pathways to manufacture cost-competitive carbon-derived products.
  • €30 Million: Allocated to de-risk local and regional industrial CCS and CCU hubs.
  • €25 Million: Targeted at pre-commercial appraisal of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers, including test drilling and injectivity trials.
  • €16 Million: Ear-marked to scale direct air capture (DAC) platforms toward pilot demonstration stage.
  • €5 Million: Allocated to support policy implementation and technical standards for the EU’s upcoming cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure framework.

Project consortia and technology developers must submit applications across three phased call deadlines throughout 2027:

  1. 31 March 2027: Deadline for direct air capture pilot demonstration proposals.
  2. 15 September 2027: Deadline for CO2 transport and storage infrastructure policy support initiatives.
  3. 1 December 2027: Deadline for local and regional industrial CCUS cluster de-risking grants.

The funding push aligns with the European Union’s broader Industrial Carbon Management Strategy, which targets the deployment of at least 50 million tpy of CO2 storage capacity across Member States by 2030.