ECCSEL aims at gaining recognition as a world-class research infrastructure based within leading European Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) institutions and knowledge centres. It will be due for registration in 2015, forming a legal entity allocating efforts and resources to selected scientific and technological aspects of the CCS chain. ECCSEL will enable high-ranking researchers and scientists from all regions of Europe (and from third countries) to access state-of-the-art research facilities to conduct advanced technological research actions relevant to CCS. The proposed project aims to : • implement ECCSEL as a not-for-profit organisation consistent with the European Research Infrastructure Consortium legal framework ; • initiate operations of ECCSEL as a world-class CCS research infrastructure in accordance with the principles developed during the preparatory phase; • develop the research infrastructure to an upgraded common standard in terms of quality of services, management and access provision;

ECCSEL ERIC was established on 1 June 2017 and is on track to gain recognition as a world-class research infrastructure (RI) based upon leading European Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) institutions and knowledge centres. It is now an approved European RI Consortium legal entity with its statutory seat in Trondheim, Norway. Under the financial support of the European Union, coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), ECCSEL has been implemented by a consortium of leading European CCS research institutes over two previous preparatory phases, and two years of initial phase operations supported by the ECCSEL Implementation Phase INFRADEV3 project (GA 675206, 2015-2017). ECCSELERATE builds on these solid foundations. ECCSEL is currently in its early operational phase as an ERIC, and needs to ramp-up to an advanced stage of operation. Based on recommendations from EC stakeholders and the ECCSEL ERIC General Assembly, ECCSELERATE will focus on: •increasing use and ensuring the long-term sustainable operation of ECCSEL ERIC RI; •cost-effective sharing and use of ECCSEL ERIC RI by industry and SMEs; •developing marketing, access and service models for industry and SMEs; •increasing international collaboration and visibility; •exploring the scope for extension to CO2 utilisation technology developments and potential synergies, thereby extending ECCSEL ERIC activities from CCS to CCUS; •expanding ECCSEL ERIC membership and developing its national nodes; and •increasing ECCSEL ERIC’s involvement with ongoing industrial CCS projects. This will enable ECCSEL ERIC to play its key role as specified in the SET-Plan TWG9 CCS and CCU Implementation Plan: ’a world-class research infrastructure facilitating ambitious R&D activities, European industrial initiatives, and education of specialists for the new CCUS industry.’

To meet the ambitious EC target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) needs to move rapidly towards full scale implementation with geological storage solutions both on and offshore. Onshore storage offers increased flexibility and reduced infrastructure and monitoring costs. Enabling onshore storage will support management of decarbonisation strategies at territory level while enhancing security of energy supply and local economic activities, and securing jobs across Europe. However, successful onshore storage also requires some unique technical and societal challenges to be overcome. ENOS will provide crucial advances to help foster onshore CO2 storage across Europe through: 1) Developing, testing and demonstrating in the field, under “real-life conditions”, key technologies specifically adapted to onshore storage. 2) Contributing to the creation of a favourable environment for onshore storage across Europe. The ENOS site portfolio will provide a great opportunity for demonstration of technologies for safe and environmentally sound storage at relevant scale. Best practices will be developed using experience gained from the field experiments with the participation of local stakeholders and the lay public. This will produce improved integrated research outcomes and increase stakeholder understanding and confidence in CO2 storage. In this improved framework, ENOS will catalyse new onshore pilot and demonstration projects in new locations and geological settings across Europe, taking into account the site-specific and local socio-economic context. By developing technologies from TRL4/5 to TRL6 across the storage lifecycle, feeding the resultant knowledge and experience into training and education and cooperating at the pan-European and global level, ENOS will have a decisive impact on innovation and build the confidence needed for enabling onshore CO2 storage in Europe.