Only one final investment decision for a major carbon capture project has been taken within the EU in the past 12 months, well below what is needed to achieve industrial decarbonisation according to the technology’s supporters.

Chris Davies, director of advocacy group CCS Europe, said: “We need a major project to be announced every week, not every year. There are hundreds of CCS projects being developed, and some pilot schemes are underway, but the vast majority are not crossing the line to get built.”

One year ago, 6 February 2024, the EC published its Communication on Industrial Carbon Management suggesting the need for the EU to capture 280 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2040 if net-zero targets are to be achieved. However, fewer than one million tonnes of CO2 are being captured at present.

Construction of seven CCS projects, in Denmark and the Netherlands, commenced in 2023, but in the last 12 months the only FID taken within the EU for the capture of more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 is the INEOS Greensand project in Denmark.

Although elsewhere in Europe final investment decisions have been taken for a CCS-equipped gas power station at Teesside in the UK, and for the Oslo waste-to-energy plant in Norway, the number of projects in the EU and Europe are not matching expectations.

CCS Europe believes that a lack of strategy for achieving industrial decarbonisation in Member States is a major hurdle and denies projects government backing.

“We need the Commission to be outspoken and to champion CCS across Europe, but at present we still don’t even know which Commissioner is taking the lead,” Davies added.

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