Development of CCUS clusters in Croatia

•Stakeholders clustering is crucial for cost-effective implementation of CCUS projects.•Amongst three possible clusters, the Eastern one is the most feasbile.•EOR is considered, but with focus on CO2 retention rather than extra oil recovery.•High available theoretical storage capacity allows to consider cross-border options. Carbon Capture and Storage is a concept that is not yet fully implemented largely because of the high costs. Clustering of industrial stakeholders is imposed as a measure for cost reduction. All relevant emitters, possible transport routes, including existing gas pipeline corridors, and their geographic location in relation to potential storage locations are assessed in this paper. Site availability and CO2 storage capacity are examined, summarizing all study results gathered under the Strategy CCUS project. The CO2 enhanced oil recovery is being studied for CO2 storage rather than extra oil recovery. As logical choices, three clusters were recognized. Only less expensive, onshore injection was taken in consideration for assessment of early (economic) feasibility in the Adriatic, Central, and Eastern clusters. Because of the shorter distance between CO2 emitters and injection sites, the Eastern and Central clusters are being investigated in more detail, despite the fact that the largest point source emitter is in the Adriatic region. Because of small number of point source CO2 emitters and huge theoretical storage capacity, further research is needed to better assess the storage capacities as well as possibilities for development of cross-border projects. Based on previous research (particularly regarding the emitters), the number of facilities (fewer facilities, with more concentrated emissions), and the availability of storage objects, the Eastern cluster is recommended to be further studied as the next stage of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage cluster research and development in Croatia and nearby cross-border regions.