Bockovci-1 Storage Hub

The Bockovci Carbon Storage Project is an onshore CO₂ geologic storage initiative in Osijek-Baranja County, northeastern Croatia, centered at the Bockovac-1 saline aquifer site. It is closely tied to the CO₂NTESSA project, a strategic investment by NEXE Group to decarbonize its cement plant in Našice and represents one of the first planned onshore carbon storage operations in Europe. The CO₂NTESSA project, valued at about €400 million, involves installing advanced oxyfuel carbon capture technology at the cement plant to capture more than 700,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year, with the captured CO₂ transported via pipeline roughly 38 km to the Bockovac site for permanent injection into a deep saline aquifer. This infrastructure is expected to synergize with the broader Croatia GT CCS project, which includes repurposing existing pipeline rights-of-way for CO₂ transport and could form the basis of a regional CCS hub serving cement and industrial emitters in Croatia and neighboring Hungary. Geological characterization led by the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency identifies the Bockovac saline aquifer as a suitable storage reservoir with an estimated permanent storage capacity of ~15.8 million metric tons of CO₂ over 25 years, supporting long-term sequestration of captured emissions from industrial sources. This onshore site benefits from proximity to major point sources, existing pipeline corridors, and strong alignment with EU and national decarbonization strategies, including Croatia’s climate and CCS policy framework. Both public agency planning and EU Innovation Fund applications underscore the project’s strategic role in advancing carbon management infrastructure in southeastern Europe, with construction and full implementation anticipated to align with CO₂ capture operations beginning in the late 2020s.