![\"Greece](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gas-platform-credit-wikimedia-commons-Divulgacao-Petrobras-cc-by-2-0.jpg\")
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Greece<\/a> advances the first carbon dioxide underground storage project. Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ Petrobras Divulgacao \/cc-by-2-0<\/p>\n Greece is moving ahead with the development of Prinos CO\u2082, the country\u2019s flagship underground carbon dioxide storage project. Operated by EnEarth, a subsidiary of Energean, the project recently secured its environmental permit expansion for Phase A. This approval allows for an initial storage capacity of up to 1 million tons of CO\u2082 per year for a duration of 20 years.<\/p>\n According to project plans, capacity will later scale up to 3 million tons annually during Phase B. Given the increasing needs of CO\u2082-emitting industries in Greece, the company is already initiating the environmental permitting process for this second phase.<\/p>\n What is Underground CO\u2082 Storage?<\/p>\n Underground CO\u2082 storage, or carbon capture and storage (CCS), involves capturing carbon dioxide from industrial sources and injecting it deep underground into rock formations or reservoirs. This method prevents CO\u2082 from entering the atmosphere, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.<\/p>\n Key pending steps and regulatory timelines for Greece\u2019s carbon dioxide strategy<\/p>\n Although the issuance of the Phase A permit marks a major milestone, several regulatory steps remain. One of the most critical is the adoption of the national CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) legislative framework, currently open for public consultation until November 19. This law will define the operating rules for the entire CCS value chain and enable the first market test to gauge industry participation.<\/p>\n Another pending item is the storage license from the Hellenic Hydrocarbon and Energy Resources Management Company (EDEYEP). The final decision is expected in the coming days, following ongoing coordination with the European Commission\u2019s DG Clima.<\/p>\n The permitting timeline already demonstrates how long the process can take, as the first environmental approval procedure began in August 2024 and was completed only recently. Creating more efficient pathways for Phase B will be crucial to keeping the wider CCS schedule on track.<\/p>\n Funding, drilling plans, and infrastructure development<\/p>\n The Prinos CO\u2082 project carries a total budget of around \u20ac1.2 billion ($1,39 billion). It has already secured \u20ac150 million ($174 million) from the Recovery and Resilience Facility<\/a> (RRF) and \u20ac120 million ($139 million) from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).<\/p>\n As part of meeting RRF milestones, the drilling schedule has been recalibrated: instead of four wells planned for the first half of 2026, only one may move forward initially, while the remaining wells will proceed outside the RRF framework.<\/p>\n Overall development includes 15 wells\u2014six for CO\u2082 injection and nine for water production. A tender for selecting the drilling rig is already underway, with the aim of finalizing the selection by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n Greece\u2019s growing CCS ecosystem<\/p>\n Prinos CO\u2082 is one of five major CCS projects forming Greece\u2019s<\/a> emerging carbon-management infrastructure, with a combined construction budget of roughly \u20ac4 billion ($4,644 billlion) and more than \u20ac1 billion ($1,16 billion) in secured RRF funding. The portfolio includes DESFA\u2019s Apollo CO\u2082, AGET Heracles\u2019 Olympus, Titan\u2019s IFESTOS, Motor Oil\u2019s IRIS, and Energean\u2019s Prinos CO\u2082.<\/p>\n While Prinos\u2019 maximum capacity could cover about 30% of emissions<\/a> from Greece\u2019s<\/a> heavy industry, additional storage solutions will be necessary to achieve long-term decarbonization goals.<\/p>\n With the legislative framework expected by year-end, Prinos CO\u2082 is positioned to become the backbone of Greece\u2019s CCS supply chain, offering long-awaited clarity to investors and enabling the next phase of carbon-management development in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greece advances the first carbon dioxide underground storage project. Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ Petrobras Divulgacao \/cc-by-2-0 Greece is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-135889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}