Declining number of announced CO₂ storage projects in Europe highlights gap between EU’s 2030 target and operational reality.
IOGP Europe’s updated map of European CO₂ storage projects shows a net reduction – due to cancellation or postponement – of 10 announced storage projects since end 2025. Accordingly, total announced CO₂ injection capacity has in the last year fallen by 8 Million tonnes per year (Mtpa) from 43 Mtpa to 35 Mtpa by 2030. This puts the EU further away from its CO₂ injection capacity obligation target of 50 Mtpa by 2030, under the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
The EU currently counts just 0.025 Mtpa of CO₂ injection capacity in operation.
This illustrates the scale of the gap between existing capacity and the obligation imposed on the oil and gas industry. The challenge is that the CO₂ injection capacity target has not been accompanied by a policy framework that strengthens the business case for the full CCS value chain, and does not factor in lead time needed to develop industrial projects.
“Targets alone do not deliver projects – business cases do. If emitters aren’t incentivized to capture CO₂ emissions in the first place, the commercial case for carbon storage remains weak at best. The EU needs a policy framework that strengthens the business case for all CCS value chain segments to invest in this strategic net zero technology,” says François-Régis Mouton de Lostalot, IOGP Europe Managing Director.
The declining trend contrasts starkly with the European Commission’s recent Progress report on the EU’s CO₂ injection capacity target, which claims that “there has been significant progress in developing storage sites” and that the 2030 target “remains realistic”.¹
The updated data simply does not support this view, especially once a distinction is made between announced projects and approved projects – the latter being the most important to determine progress towards the 50 Mtpa EU-wide target. On this key metric, the EU is currently far behind schedule, with projects that have been granted Final Investment Decision amounting to just 2.9 Mtpa of CO₂ injection capacity thus far.
For more information on the CCS map as well as on other relevant energy and climate trends across the EU and Europe, please visit the IOGP Europe Data Room.
