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Document 02010D0670-20171122
Commission Decision of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO 2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2010) 7499) (2010/670/EU)
Consolidated text: Commission Decision of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO 2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2010) 7499) (2010/670/EU)
Commission Decision of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO 2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2010) 7499) (2010/670/EU)
02010D0670 — EN — 22.11.2017 — 002.001
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COMMISSION DECISION of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2010) 7499) (OJ L 290 6.11.2010, p. 39) |
Amended by:
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L 31 |
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7.2.2015 |
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L 306 |
24 |
22.11.2017 |
COMMISSION DECISION
of 3 November 2010
laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
(notified under document C(2010) 7499)
(2010/670/EU)
Article 1
Subject matter
This Decision lays down rules and criteria for the following:
the selection of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 (‘CCS demonstration projects’) and demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies (‘RES demonstration projects’) referred to in Directive 2003/87/EC;
the monetisation of the allowances referred to in Directive 2003/87/EC for the support of CCS and RES demonstration projects, and the management of the related revenues;
the disbursement of revenues and the implementation of CCS and RES demonstration projects.
This Decision, including the provisions in relation to the monetisation of allowances, shall be without prejudice to other implementing acts adopted pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC.
Article 2
Principles
However, where financing under this Decision is combined with financing from the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), the financing under this Decision shall be reduced by the amount of financing received from the EEPR.
The preceding paragraph, Articles 6, 8, 11(1) to (5), the first and second subparagraphs of Article 11(6) and Article 13 shall not apply to the use of these revenues.
The Commission shall report sufficiently in advance to the Climate Change Committee on the development of the relevant Delegation Agreements between the Commission and the European Investment Bank, in particular as regards the related eligibility criteria, implementation of the relevant financial instruments, especially the build-up of the project pipeline, assessment of the project applications and finally on the use of the redeployed revenues, and take appropriate account of the views of Member States.
Article 3
Relevant costs
Investment costs may also relate to investment in technology transfer and operating licenses of know-how (hereinafter ‘intangible assets’) where the following conditions are fulfilled:
the intangible asset can be considered as a depreciable asset;
the intangible asset is purchased on market terms at the lowest price possible;
the intangible asset remains in the establishment of the recipient for at least 5 years.
If the intangible asset is sold before the expiry of the 5-year period referred to in point (c) of the second subparagraph, the yield from the sale shall be deducted from the relevant costs.
Article 4
Role of the EIB
The European Investment Bank (EIB) shall perform its tasks under this Decision on request of, on behalf of and for the account of the Commission. The Commission shall be responsible with regard to third parties.
The EIB shall be reimbursed for the performance of those tasks from income generated from its management of the revenues.
The Commission and the EIB shall enter into an agreement laying down the specific terms and conditions under which the EIB shall perform its tasks.
Article 5
Selection procedure
However, where a project is intended to take place on the territory of several Member States (hereinafter a ‘transboundary project’), the Member State receiving the funding application shall inform the other Member States concerned thereof and shall cooperate with the other Member States with a view to reaching a common decision on the submission of the project by the Member State receiving the funding application.
When submitting proposals for funding, the Member State shall provide the following information for each project:
the relevant costs, in euro, referred to in Article 2(3);
the total request for public funding in euro, which is the relevant costs minus any contribution to those costs from the operator;
the best estimate of the net present value of additional benefits resulting from support schemes as calculated according to Article 3(5);
for CCS demonstration projects, the total projected amount of CO2 stored in the first 10 years of operation, or, for RES demonstration projects, the total projected amount of energy produced in the first 5 years of operation.
Member States shall also notify the Commission of any financing for the project involving State aid pursuant to Article 108(3) of the Treaty so as to allow coordination of the selection procedure with the State aid assessment.
Where that assessment has been concluded positively, the EIB shall, in accordance with Article 8, make recommendations for award decisions to the Commission.
Article 6
Eligibility criteria
A project shall be eligible for funding where the following criteria are fulfilled:
the project must fall into one of the categories set out in Part A of Annex I;
the project must comply with the requirements set out in Part B of Annex I;
the projects listed in Part A.II of Annex I must be innovative in nature. Existing, proven technologies are ineligible.
Article 7
Financial and technical due diligence
The EIB shall perform the due diligence assessment of any proposed project in accordance with specifications laid down in the calls for proposals referred to in Article 5(1) and shall cover at least the following aspects:
technical scope;
costs;
financing;
implementation;
operation;
environmental impact;
procurement procedures.
Article 8
Project selection
However, where resources allow, further projects may be funded while maintaining the balance between CCS and RES demonstration projects.
Where no more than two proposals are submitted in a given subcategory, the Commission shall assess the possible impact of the limited number of proposals on the competition for selection under this Decision, and may, where appropriate, decide to postpone award decisions in the relevant subcategory to the second round of calls for proposals.
For the purposes of the first subparagraph, cost-per-unit performance shall be calculated as the sum of the amounts specified in Article 5(3)(b) and (c), divided by the total projected amount of CO2 stored in the first 10 years of operation for CCS demonstration projects, or, the total projected amount of energy produced in the first 5 years of operation for the RES demonstration projects.
Where the relevant Member States confirm, pursuant to Article 5(5), that there is a sufficient public funding for CCS demonstration projects, the highest ranked projects shall be selected in order of their ranking, provided all the following criteria are met:
at least one project and at most three projects are selected in each project category;
at least three projects with hydrocarbon reservoir storage are selected;
at least three projects with saline aquifer storage are selected.
Where those criteria are not met, the project under consideration for selection shall not be selected, and the next highest ranked project shall be considered for selection. The procedure shall be repeated until eight projects are selected.
Where the relevant Member States confirm, pursuant to Article 5(5), that there is a sufficient public funding for RES demonstration projects, the highest ranked project in each subcategory shall be selected. Where, in either of the rounds for calls for proposals there are no eligible and financially and technically viable projects in one or more project subcategories, a corresponding number of additional projects shall be funded in other subcategories of the same project category. Details shall be specified in the call for proposals pursuant to Article 5(1).
The selected CCS demonstration projects shall collectively constitute ‘the CCS group’ and the selected RES demonstration projects shall collectively constitute ‘the RES group’.
For each of the groups, the project representing the highest cost-per-unit performance shall be deselected first, the project representing the highest cost-per-unit performance in another category shall be deselected next. The procedure shall be repeated until the requested funding is covered by the available funds.
However, the first subparagraph shall not apply to transboundary projects.
Article 9
Award decisions
Award decisions shall be conditional upon all relevant national permits in accordance with relevant requirements under Union law being issued, approval by the Commission of any State aid in respect of a project being granted, and final investment decisions being reached by the sponsors, within ►M1 48 months ◄ of adoption of the award decisions.
With regard to CCS demonstration projects, with saline aquifer storage, award decisions shall be conditional upon all relevant national permits in accordance with relevant requirements under Union law being issued, approval by the Commission of any State aid in respect of a project being granted, and final investment decisions being reached by the sponsors, within ►M1 60 months ◄ of adoption of the award decisions.
Award decisions shall cease to have legal effect where the conditions referred to in the first or second paragraph are not met.
Article 10
Monetisation of allowances and management of revenues
The EIB shall manage the revenues and shall pass them to Member States as required for disbursement pursuant to Article 11.
Article 11
Disbursement of revenues and use of non-disbursed revenues
Member States shall disburse the revenues to project sponsors on the basis of legally binding instruments which shall set out at least the following:
the project and the awarded funding in euro;
the date of entry into operation;
the requirements for knowledge-sharing pursuant to Article 12;
requirements regarding disbursement of the revenues pursuant to paragraphs 2 to 6 of this Article;
requirements for reporting pursuant to Article 13;
the information on conditions of applicability of the decision referred to in Article 9.
For the first round of calls for proposals referred to in Article 5(1), the date of entry into operation referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be ►M1 31 December 2017 ◄ at the latest except where the respective award decision is adopted after 31 December 2011, in which case the date of entry into operation shall be no later than ►M1 6 years ◄ from the date of the award decision.
Where the project has not entered into operation by the date of entry into operation set for that project that date is automatically extended by 1 year.
Award decisions shall cease to have legal effect where the project has not entered into operation by the date of entry into operation applicable pursuant to the third subparagraph. In this case, any funding disbursed or received for the purpose of disbursement shall be returned.
The funding rate shall be calculated by dividing the awarded funding by 75 % of the projected total amount of stored CO2 in the first 10 years of operation in case of CCS demonstration projects, or 75 % of the projected total amount of energy produced in the first 5 years of operation in the case of RES demonstration projects.
Member States shall return revenues which are not disbursed to the EIB.
After 31 December 2015, any remaining funds shall accrue to the Member States. At the end of disbursement, these funds shall be passed on to the Member States in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 10a(7) of Directive 2003/87/EC.
Article 12
Knowledge-sharing
Member States shall ensure that all project operators, consortium members, suppliers and subcontractors who receive substantial benefit regarding the development of their product or service from the public finance provided, share the information on the elements set out in Annex II with other project operators, public authorities, research institutes, non-governmental organisations and the public in accordance with the further specifications set out in the calls for proposals referred to in Article 5(1).
Information shall be shared on an annual basis and shall comprise all information generated and processed in a given year.
Article 13
Reporting by Member States
During the periods referred to in Article 11(4), Member States shall, by 31 December of each year, submit reports on the implementation of the projects to the Commission.
Those reports shall include at least the following information for each project:
the amount of CO2 stored or clean energy produced;
the funds disbursed;
any significant problems with project implementation.
Article 14
Reporting by the Commission
After completion of the first round of calls for proposals, the Commission shall report to the Climate Change Committee on the implementation of that round of calls for proposals, indicating whether any amendment to this Decision is necessary with the view to ensuring geographical and technical balance in the second round of calls for proposals.
The Commission shall report regularly to the Climate Change Committee on the use of the revenues referred to in Article 2(4), including upfront information on the planned support for projects and the part of support to be made available in the form of grants, geographical distribution of projects, scale of projects and technological coverage, ex-post information on the progress of realization of projects, avoidance of CO2 emissions, financial leverage, awareness-raising and lessons learned, as appropriate.
Article 15
Addressees
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX I
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
A. PROJECT CATEGORIES
I. CCS demonstration project categories (with minimum capacity thresholds ( 2 ))
II. Innovative RES demonstration project categories (with minimum size thresholds)
Note: sustainability criteria as provided in Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 3 ) on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources shall be met for biofuels and bioliquids within the meaning of that Directive.
Note: Dry cooling, hybridisation and (advanced) heat storage solution may be included in the demonstration plants.
Note: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) applications with the same electricity thresholds are equally eligible.
Note: The use of active loads (electric heaters/heat pumps etc.) shall not be excluded.
B. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
I. Common requirements
II. CCS demonstration projects
ANNEX II
KNOWLEDGE-SHARING REQUIREMENTS
A. Technical set-up and performance
B. Cost level
C. Project management
D. Environmental impact
E. Health and safety
F. CCS storage site performance
( 1 ) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
( 2 ) CCS power thresholds are expressed as gross electrical output before capture.
( 3 ) OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 16.