The selected projects are: Jaenschwalde in Germany by Swedish-owned utility Vattenfall; Rotterdam in the Netherlands by German energy corporation E.ON and Belgium-based energy corporation Electrabel; Belchatow in Poland; Compostilla in Spain; Hatfield in the United Kingdom; Porto Tolle in Italy; and Florange in France.

Each project will receive up to €180m in EU funds.

Member states have two weeks to object to the Commission’s plan before it goes to the European Parliament for approval. Chris Davies, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), believes that MEPs are likely to accept the proposal.

“This is a major milestone in starting the construction of the first EU large-scale CCS plants. The Commission regulation says that the money will have to be spent by companies by the end of 2010, so we are confident that things will now speed up,” says Eivind Hoff of Bellona Europa.