Another step has been taken with the determination of the preferred option (Voorkeursalternatief or VKA) by the Dutch Minister of Climate and Energy, as published February 9. The preferred option is an outline design for the Aramis initiative’s infrastructure that optimally considers all public interests along with a range of preconditions, such as safety, technical feasibility, environmental impact, future viability, costs, and spatial integration.  This comprises the preferred option for the Aramis initiative, including the CO2next project.

The adoption of the preferred option serves as the foundation for the spatial planning decision and the permits. You can read more about the adoption of the preferred option and the Aramis initiative including CO2next here https://www.rvo.nl/onderwerpen/bureau-energieprojecten/lopende-projecten/aramis (in Dutch).

The European Commission announced a commitment to advancing cross-border energy infrastructure through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding scheme. This includes four CO2 transport and storage projects, including CO2next.  More information is available on this webpage of the European Commission: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/connecting-europe-facility-nearly-eu600-million-energy-infrastructure-contributing-decarbonisation-2023-12-08_en

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has determined and published the Memorandum on Scope and Level of Detail (NRD) on December 2, 2022. This memorandum contains the framework for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to be drawn up for CO2next and Aramis. The EIA maps out the environmental effects of the project, such as the effects on safety, landscape, nature, soil and water. The aim of the EIA is to make sure that environmental issues are given a rightful place in the decision-making process.