As part of the 10 year Italian R&D program for CCS demonstration in Sardinia, an experimental open research platform is being created to study CO₂ flow along faults. CO₂ will be injected near a fault at 200-300 m depth from 2017 onwards. Wells will enable monitoring of the CO₂ behaviour underground.

The GeoEnergy Test Bed (GTB) is a research facility initiated by the British Geological Survey and the University of Nottingham comprising an instrumented borehole array. The site represents a £6M investment to support new and emergent geo-energy sectors critical for a sustainable energy future (including £2.5 M UK government-funding through the Energy Research Accelerator project).

The Hontomin Technology Development Plant (TDP) for CO₂ geological storage, located close to the city of Burgos (Spain), is currently the only active onshore injection site in the European Union. It is managed by Fundacion Ciudad de la Energía (CIUDEN) and it has been recognised by the European Parliament as a key test facility.

LBr-1 is a depleted oil field in the Czech Republic where a small-scale storage pilot is in preparation through the REPP-CO2 project. The reservoir, Miocene sandstones at ~1100 m depth hydraulically connected to an aquifer, is a typical example of a hydrocarbon-bearing structure in the Vienna Basin, one of the oldest hydrocarbon provinces in Europe. The site will be used to i) assess the potential for unwanted migration and/or leakage through abandoned boreholes and faults and ii) investigate reservoir behaviour in the presence of
CO2 and hydrocarbons, including possible mobilisation of hydrocarbons and use of CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

The Dutch gas field Q16 Maas with onshore surface installations is currently under consideration, as part of a Dutch programme (see page 6) for the development of a CO₂ buffer for CO₂ utilisation.