COREu will demonstrate key enabling technologies in a CCS value chain and support the development of three new CCS routes in Central-East Europe (CEE), helping accelerate CCS development . COREu will (a) provide the means for development of an open-access, trans-national network (infrastructure and logistic) to connect emitters with storage sites in Europe, by identifying multimodal transport requirements, and developing emitters’ clusters to create the demand and the investment rationale, (b) increase the knowledge of the CCS value chain across Europe through interconnected initiatives, sharing of experience, knowledge and data to create a common framework that encompasses all key aspects of CCS deployment: technological know-how, business models, consensus management, monitoring, reporting and validation, policy framework, transport and storage safety. COREU will contribute to 6.8Mt/year in CO2 reduction by 2035 and 36Mt/year by 2050, develop 8 innovations for Measurement Monitoring Verification, interoperability and Value Chain Monitoring, and improve the Internal Rate of Return of CO2 infrastructure investment by 6% through de-risking core technologies.

In a world’s first, HiRECORD will demonstrate at TRL 6, a modular CO2 capture plant that will comprise a Rotating Packed Bed (RPB) absorber and an advanced RPB desorber with integrated spinning reboiler (RPB-ISR). The plant will be of 10 t/d CO2 capture capacity and will operate with the advanced, APBS-CDRMax solvent. It will be operated on the premises of a natural-gas power plant (ELPEDISON), of an industrial gas boiler (HELLENiQ PETROLEUM S.A.) and of a quicklime plant (CAO Hellas), highlighting the high modularity and flexibility of RPB processes with flue gases of different specifications. The advanced capture plant will allow up to 50% capture cost reduction, compared to conventional MEA-based, packed-bed technologies. This reduction will result from at least 10 times lower space footprint due to the use of the RPBs, with direct beneficial impacts on capital expenditures, as well as a regeneration energy of 2.0-2.1 GJ/tCO2 due to the use of the APBS-CDRMax solvent and the RPB-ISR. These features will also enable 20% and 50% lower environmental and safety impacts, as the solvent and operating conditions will minimize emissions, corrosion and make-up requirements. Techno-economic studies will also include an industrial cluster in Northern Greece, where options of CO2 utilization as well transportation and sequestration in nearby geological sites will also be investigated. Extensive societal, public acceptance and policy studies will also be performed, including surveys to the over 750 members of the industrial association partner SEVE.