EU Funds New Carbon Capture Project in Norway
The initiative aims to sequester 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually starting in 2027.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Environmental
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The European Commission has awarded Sirona Technologies a €9.1 million grant to advance Project Furu, a carbon removal initiative. This effort aims to deploy Direct Air Capture and Storage technology in Norway to permanently sequester carbon dioxide beneath the North Sea.
Why it matters
As the first air capture project supported by the EU Innovation Fund, Project Furu signals a strategic shift toward subsidizing large-scale atmospheric carbon removal. This funding helps bridge the infrastructure gap between current prototype technology and the EU's 2050 climate neutrality targets.
The project aims for a capture capacity of 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, an amount equivalent to the emissions of approximately 22,000 passenger cars. This facility will rely on localized hydropower to run its separation, purification, and liquefaction processes.
The players
Sirona Technologies
A climate-tech company that manufactures modular Direct Air Capture and Storage hardware.
European Commission
The executive branch of the European Union responsible for awarding the Innovation Fund grant.
Northern Lights
A carbon transport and storage infrastructure network based in the North Sea.
The details
Sirona Technologies manufactures its Direct Air Capture units in Brussels using a modular approach where technology is housed in standard shipping containers. Once transported to Norway, these units draw in ambient air to isolate CO2, which is then liquefied for transport. This CO2 is ultimately injected into the Northern Lights infrastructure network for permanent geological storage beneath the North Sea.
Timeline
2027: First capture units expected to become operational.
2031-2040: Proposed EU window for procuring 250 million tonnes of CO2 removal.
2050: Target year for European Union climate neutrality.
The Tech Race
Project Furu represents the first air capture initiative to secure support from the EU Innovation Fund. This placement marks a decisive integration step between specialized carbon removal hardware and the existing Northern Lights storage network.
This project is currently in the development stage with full-scale operations scheduled for 2027. It serves as a precursor to a wider EU carbon removal procurement market that may incentivize further investment in industrial-scale capture capacity over the next decade.
The takeaway
The project represents a move toward institutionalizing carbon removal as a component of the European power grid infrastructure. Observers should track the 2027 launch date to verify the technical performance of the containerized capture units against current carbon removal cost benchmarks.
Further reading
For more on the developments in carbon removal, visit the Environmental section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by IO+.
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