State aid: Commission approves €14.3 million Dutch aid to support a carbon capture and use facility

The European Commission has found a €14.3 million Dutch investment aid to TWENCE HOLDING BV to build a carbon capture and use facility to be in line with EU State aid rules. The project will enable the removal of CO₂ from flue gases at the company’s waste-to-energy installation facility located at Hengelo, in the Netherlands. The captured liquid CO₂ will be used primarily by greenhouses in the horticultural sector, where it is to be used to enhance crop growth. The investment project relates to the capturing process and equipment of the liquefied CO₂ and not to its transport. The aim of the measure is to increase environmental protection by reducing the use of primary energy sources for conventional forms of CO₂ generation for horticultural processes and therefore reducing CO₂ emissions linked to these processes. In addition, the measure aims at re-using CO₂ and contributing to the development of sustainable and circular product chains for the reutilisation and application of CO₂. The intended investment aid of around €14.3 million would represent 37% of the eligible investment costs of the project. The Commission found that the aid complies with the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which enables Member States to support the development of certain economic activities, subject to certain conditions. The Commission found that the aid is proportionate and does not exceed the minimum necessary to make the aided project sufficiently profitable. More information on today’s decision will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number SA.61295.