The European Commission has announced that 235 energy projects across Europe have been designated as Projects of Common Interest (PCI) or Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI). Northern Lights is among the selected initiatives, underscoring the project’s central role in building the cross-border CO₂ infrastructure Europe needs to meet its climate goals.

PCI/PMI status provides access to accelerated permitting and makes project promoters eligible for funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, which holds a total budget of €20.7 billion.

The Commission emphasised that the selected projects will help complete the European energy union, improve energy security and competitiveness, and accelerate industrial decarbonisation across the continent.

Northern Lights is the first provider of commercial CO₂ storage as a service and began operations of the first phase in August 2025. Northern Lights has already been awarded €131 million from the Connecting Europe Facility for Phase 2 of the project, which aims to increase storage capacity from 1.5 million tonnes per year to a minimum of 5 million tonnes per year.

Phase 2 is already well underway: storage tanks have arrived, civil works for the jetty and new facilities are progressing as planned, and drilling of two additional wells is scheduled to begin in 2027.

The PCI/PMI list will be formally adopted once it has been approved by the European Parliament and the Council, a process expected to conclude within the next two months.