Europe Hosts 13% of Global CCS Projects as Market Foundations Take Shape

Europe now hosts 13 per cent of the world's operational carbon capture and storage projects and accounts for more than one third of the global CCS pipeline under construction. Those figures come from the Global CCS Institute's Global Status of CCS report, and Dr Richard Leese, the institute's Head of Europe, frames them carefully: too early to call the continent a success story, but evidence that a functioning market is forming.

The benchmark that will decide the verdict is the Net-Zero Industry Act target: at least 50 million tonnes of annual CO₂ injection capacity by 2030. Deployment must accelerate to reach it, Leese writes in an opinion analysis, yet the goal remains achievable.

What does the emerging market look like in practice?

More than the raw project count, Europe is starting to demonstrate how a connected CCS market could operate. Two examples anchor the argument.

• Yara ships CO₂ from the Netherlands and stores it off the coast of Norway via the Northern Lights infrastructure.
• Greensand has entered commercial operation and is taking steps to offer storage as an industrial service.

Yara's cross-border shipments mark a shift from isolated demonstration projects toward traded storage capacity. Greensand's move to sell storage as a service points the same direction.

Which fundamentals are driving growth?

The key ingredients remain familiar: state support, including funding, and a strong legislative framework against which financial decisions can be made. Northern Lights has shown the power of the public purse as a first mover, getting projects off the ground and sustaining them while private investment crowds in.

The Norwegian government's backing of the scheme allowed other companies to tap into the storage asset and solved the "what comes first" conundrum for emitters considering carbon capture. That success could expand southward. The European Commission has selected Eni and Snam's Ravenna CCS Phase 2 project for support through the 2025 Innovation Fund.

Consistency has mattered as much as money. The EU has set a CO₂ injection capacity mandate on oil and gas companies through the Net Zero Industry Act, giving investors a stable policy signal. Challenges remain — political attention is split across energy security, industrial competitiveness and affordability — but Leese argues the direction of travel is largely unchanged. If private investment is to come forward, certainty in the future policy environment is essential.

What comes next on the legislative file?

Forthcoming enabling activity could close remaining gaps. The Commission's CO₂ transport and infrastructure package is expected to address cross-border technicalities of moving CO₂, including the potential for harmonised specifications and third-party access. That, in turn, would determine responsibility boundaries between operators.

Leese identifies two consequences. Businesses could better mitigate potential losses, and insurers could create new products for the transport chain. The EU Emissions Trading System review could also resolve cross-border accounting questions through surrender exemptions for qualifying permanent storage in third countries with linked ETS systems.

The ETS review carries a material funding number. It proposes integrating domestic permanent BioCCS and DACCS removals through a centralised Commission purchasing mechanism, funded by the sale of 250 million allowances between 2031 and 2040, plus another 10 million if needed — a signal, Leese writes, of potential carbon management pipeline expansion.

The demand side is also shifting. CCS deployment to date has run on push factors, with industries working to meet decarbonisation requirements and avoid emissions costs. The Industrial Accelerator Act's proposals to back lower-emissions goods in public procurement and public support schemes could add the pull of low-carbon product demand and strengthen the business case for capture projects.

What should other regions take from Europe?

As COP31 approaches in Antalya, Leese argues the focus should move to implementation: turning climate commitments into investable projects and operating infrastructure. Carbon management has a role alongside electrification, renewable energy and efficiency measures, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors.

The lesson is not that every market needs an identical strategy. Political, financial, geological, industrial and legislative realities differ by region, and those differences will shape different pathways. Norway, Leese notes, has advanced carbon management without a dedicated CCS strategy.

The takeaway he draws is narrower: sustained political commitment, targeted public investment and practical delivery can allow a market to emerge even before every element of the policy architecture is complete. The milestone to watch remains the 2030 injection target, and the Innovation Fund decisions and ETS review outcomes that will shape who can build toward it.