When you speak with Paula Canteli, you really get a sense of her enthusiasm for the Earth, and the people working to protect it. Canteli is Head of Institutional Relations and International, and Coordinator of Geological Storage at the Instituo Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC). She is also the Coordinator of the Ebro Basin region in PilotSTRATEGY. Canteli has built a career bridging technical expertise with diplomacy, advancing carbon storage in Spain and beyond.
Born in Gijón and raised in nearby Oviedo, Asturias, Canteli’s journey into geoscience began almost by chance. “I wanted to become an architect, but there was no university in Oviedo offering that degree. So I started Mining Engineering thinking it would be temporary — but I fell in love with geology, groundwater, and mines. It made me understand nature, resources, and their sustainable use.”
After earning her Mining Engineering master’s degree at the School of Mines of Oviedo, Canteli began her career studying the environmental impacts of mining. She joined IGME in 2000, working in the environmental group of the mineral resources department. During this time, she defended her PhD in 2002. She then left IGME in 2007, when she moved abroad. “For family reasons, I moved to Copenhagen and started working in the oil and gas industry,” she explains. “Between 2007 and 2015, I worked in Denmark, Kazakhstan, Norway, and Romania — a very enriching experience that later helped me transition naturally into CO2 storage.”
She returned to IGME in 2016, and joined the institute’s emerging CO2 storage team, helping pick up the work that had slowed down in European CCS development. “When I came back, the CO2 storage group had almost disappeared, so they asked me to take on the task… and it started to move again!” she says. “I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Her involvement in PilotSTRATEGY began before the project’s launch. “The previous coordinator, Fernanda Veloso, told me about her idea for the proposal, and I really liked it. We worked all summer preparing it — it was a hard summer, but the result was fantastic!” Today, Canteli leads Work Package 4: Implementation and Pilot Development, as well as coordination of Spain’s Ebro Basin region, one of the project’s key study areas.
For Canteli, three elements stand out in her PilotSTRATEGY work: public engagement, regulatory clarity, and collaboration with industry. “As an engineer, I was ready for the technical aspects, but I’ve learned how important early and proper communication with all stakeholders is,” she reflects. “We also need to translate CO2 storage regulation into practical guidance, and foster strong interaction between research and industry — we speak different languages, but share the same goal: ensuring safe storage.”
Beyond the lab and office, she finds energy in travel and the outdoors. “I love visiting new places, meeting new people, trying new food — and even better when I do it with my family,” she says. “We’re happy whether it’s a day trip around Madrid, a weekend away, or a longer journey abroad. Walking in nature — mountains, forests, lakes, deserts — gives me peace and fresh air.”
Looking to the future, Canteli sees a positive trajectory for CCUS in Europe — provided momentum continues. “Important actions from the European Commission have made CCUS technologies a recognised necessity for achieving climate goals and industrial sustainability,” she notes. “Many countries are moving from development to real, commercial CCUS sites. But extra efforts are still needed to ensure capacity across the whole of Europe, including the South and East.”
