Another step has been taken with the determination of the preferred option (Voorkeursalternatief or VKA) by the Dutch Minister of Climate and Energy, as published February 9. The preferred option is an outline design for the Aramis initiative’s infrastructure that optimally considers all public interests along with a range of preconditions, such as safety, technical feasibility, environmental impact, future viability, costs, and spatial integration.  

The European Commission announced a commitment to advancing cross-border energy infrastructure through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding scheme. This includes four CO2 transport and storage projects, including CO2next. 

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has determined and published the Memorandum on Scope and Level of Detail (NRD) on December 2, 2022. This memorandum contains the framework for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to be drawn up for CO2next and Aramis. The EIA maps out the environmental effects of the project, such as the effects on safety, landscape, nature, soil and water. The aim of the EIA is to make sure that environmental issues are given a rightful place in the decision-making process.

On 18 August 2022, the EIA Committee published its advice on the environmental impact report yet to be drawn up. The EIA Committee stated that all the consequences of capture and storage must be examined. This means that the initiators of the Aramis project for CO₂ transport must map out the environmental effects of the entire chain.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change published the draft Notitie Reikwijdte en Detailniveau (c-NRD) for the Aramis initiative on Friday 10 June 2022. The memorandum contains the frameworks for the environmental impact report for the Aramis initiative.

The partners Vopak, Gasunie and Gate terminal in CO₂nnect have decided to continue the project under a new name: CO₂next. This was prompted by signals we received afterwards regarding the registration of the brand name. 

On 6 January 2022 the Notification of Intention and Proposal for Participation by Aramis was published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change.

As part of the feasibility study CO₂nnect is exploring market demand through a non-binding open season approach targeting interest in CO₂ services.

RvO conducted a spatial exploration following the plans for the transport of CO₂ from the Maasvlakte to empty oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The report was published early December.