Europe’s carbon storage plans well behind

Europe is falling further behind on carbon storage, raising fresh doubts over whether the EU can hit one of its key climate technology targets.

New data from IOGP Europe shows announced CO₂ injection capacity has fallen from 43 million tonnes per year to 35 million tonnes per year by 2030, after 10 storage projects were either cancelled or postponed since the end of 2025.

That leaves the EU well short of its 50 million tonnes per year CO₂ injection capacity target under the Net Zero Industry Act. Estimates show the EU currently has just 0.025 million tonnes per year of operational CO₂ injection capacity.

The group says projects that have reached Final Investment Decision add up to only 2.9 million tonnes per year of injection capacity, far below the level needed to meet the 2030 target.

IOGP Europe is the European advocacy arm of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.

It represents around 30 energy companies accounting for 70% of EU oil and gas production and says the latest figures show the bloc is drifting away from its carbon capture and storage ambitions.

Carbon capture and storage is seen as a vital tool for cutting emissions from heavy industries that are difficult to electrify, including cement, chemicals, refining and steel.

Without enough storage capacity, industrial emitters have nowhere to send captured CO₂, weakening the business case for capture projects and slowing investment across the whole chain.

IOGP Europe argues this is the core problem. It says the EU has set a storage target but has not created a strong enough policy framework to make carbon capture, transport and storage commercially viable.

The warning contrasts with the European Commission’s recent progress report, which said there had been “significant progress in developing storage sites” and that the 2030 target “remains realistic”.

If storage capacity does not grow quickly, hard-to-abate industries may struggle to cut emissions at the pace expected under Europe’s net zero plans.

That could leave companies exposed to higher carbon costs, delay industrial decarbonisation and weaken Europe’s claim to be leading the clean technology transition.