EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 28.5.2026

COM(2026) 252 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on the progress towards reaching the Union-wide target for CO2 injection capacity

Table of contents

1    Objective of this report    

2    Background    

3    Overview of demand and supply based on Member States' estimations    

3.1    National energy and climate plans    

3.2    2024 Member States reports under Article 21(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735    

3.3    Transparency of storage capacity data under Article 21(1)    

4    Overview of planned CO2 storage projects    

4.1    Contribution under the 44 obligated entities’ plans    

4.2    Overview of existing permits and draft storage permits    

4.3    EU storage projects recognised as net-zero strategic projects    

5    Support under EU and national funding programmes    

5.1    Contribution of the Innovation Fund    

5.2    Contribution of the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy    

5.3    Contribution of the Recovery and Resilience Facility    

5.4    Contribution of Horizon Europe    

5.5    Contribution from Member States    

6    State of play in 2025 and next steps    

7    Conclusion    

1Objective of this report

The objective of this report is to monitor the progress towards reaching the European Union (EU) CO2 injection capacity referred to in Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on establishing a framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology manufacturing ecosystem.

The report is based on:

·the 2024 annual Member States reports submitted pursuant to Article 21(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 1 , 2 ; and 

·the 2025 plans submitted by the 44 obligated entities pursuant to Article 23(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735. 

This report also takes into account additional information that contributes to the understanding of the emerging market of geological CO2 storage services in the EU, namely:

·the recently updated National Energy and Climate Plans 3 ; 

·the demand for EU funding from industry 4 ;

·the draft storage permits, submitted by Member States under Article 10 of Directive 2009/31/EC  5 , and

·the implementation by Member States of Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 of their obligations: (i) to make publicly available data on all areas where CO2 storage sites could be permitted on their territory, publicly available; and (ii) to make publicly available on a non-reliance basis geological data relating to hydrocarbon production sites that have been decommissioned or whose decommissioning has been notified to the competent authority.

It is important to note, however, that the assessment in this report only represents a snapshot based on the reporting provided by Member States and obligated entities, which has been incomplete. A more comprehensive picture will emerge over time as additional submissions are made in the run-up to 2030.

2Background 

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the main decarbonisation technologies available to industries with hard-to-abate emissions in the EU. The Communication ‘Towards an ambitious Industrial Carbon Management for the EU’ reiterated the key role of industrial carbon management into mitigating hard-to-abate emissions and achieving negative emissions. The Communication also described the need for a comprehensive EU policy and investment framework for all aspects of industrial carbon management and sets out a vision for a single market for CO2 transport and storage services throughout Europe by 2030 6 .

The Draghi report on EU competitiveness emphasised the importance of a technology-neutral approach to decarbonisation, pointed out the need for significant public and private investments, and recommended extending acceleration measures and emergency regulation for CCS infrastructure 7 . 

The Clean Industrial Deal put forward concrete actions to turn decarbonisation into a driver of growth for European industries and sets out new measures to support the creation of a market for captured CO2, including voluntary labels on the carbon intensity of industrial products. 

The EU is a leader both in CO2 capture technologies and in CCS research, development, and innovation funding. In addition, the EU hosts the world’s leading company in high-value carbon industrial carbon management inventions 8 , 9 . The recognition of CO2 capture, transport, storage and utilisation technologies in the EU as a net-zero technologies 10  will support the deployment of integrated CCS value chains and help reinforce this industrial leadership.

A robust regulatory framework is under development to support the deployment of CCS in the EU. Directive 2009/31/EC establishes a legal framework for the safe geological storage of CO2. Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 establishes an EU annual injection capacity target of at least 50 million tonnes of CO2 that is to be achieved by 2030 in storage sites, sets individual contributions to the EU annual injection capacity target, based on the entities’ share in the EU's crude oil and natural gas production from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023, and accelerates and facilitates administrative, permitting, and legal procedures for CCS projects contributing to the EU’s annual target 11 .

The EU 2040 climate target impact assessment modelling incorporates the EU annual injection capacity target and estimates that approximately 200 million tonnes per year of captured CO2 needs to be stored underground by 2040 12 . The EU annual injection capacity target should contribute to the EU binding objective of climate neutrality by 2050 13 , 14 .

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1477 specifies the rules for the identification of the authorised oil and gas producers who are required to contribute to the EU annual injection capacity target 15 . Commission Decision (EU) 2025/1479 lists the individual contributions of the 44 authorised oil and gas producers that must contribute to the target 16 . 

The EU CO2 storage service market is nascent but growing rapidly. The Porthos facility is expected to enter into operation in 2026 in the Netherlands with 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 injection capacity per year. The Greensand facility is also expected to enter into operation in 2026 with an initial injection capacity of 0.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The Ravenna CCS project, located in Italy, is already injecting approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year since 2024 at pilot scale and plans to enter into commercial operation by 2030. In the European Economic Area, two storage sites located in Iceland and Norway have started injecting CO2 from industrial sources at a commercial scale in 2025 17 . 

The EU is also supporting the development of storage sites through several EU funding instruments, including the Connecting Europe Facility, Horizon Europe, the Innovation Fund, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

3Overview of demand and supply based on Member States' estimations 

3.1National energy and climate plans

NECPs require Member States to make public the policies that will be implemented to achieve the 2030 climate and energy targets. In 2022, the Commission encouraged Member States to integrate long-term geological storage of CO2 and the efforts planned to enable their industries to capture and store their inherent process emissions permanently in geological storage sites, in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC, in their updated NECPs 18 . Member States were encouraged to provide the following information:

·the annual aggregated projection of inherent process emissions that will have to be abated through CO2 capture;

·the annual biogenic and direct air CO2 that will be available for geological storage of CO2;

·the geological CO2 storage capacity that can be made operationally available annually;

·annual CO2 storage capacity that may become available at the end of exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs;

·planned CO2 transport infrastructure;

·public funding support available for investment in CO2 capture, transport and storage; and

·any other measures to support the deployment of long-term geological CO2 storage opportunities.

The revised NECPs for the period 2021-2030 include information on the planned deployment of CCS in each Member State 19 . The Commission’s analysis of the revised NECPs indicates that a total of 35 million tonnes of CO2 could be captured annually in the EU by 2030 for permanent storage. Figures provided under the NECPs also indicate that 27.1 million tonnes of CO2 could be injected annually in storage sites located in the EU by 2030. This suggests that there will be significant demand from industry for storage sites in the next years. The Commission also expects Member States to submit a growing number of draft storage permits under Article 10 of Directive 2009/31/EC in the coming years.

Figure 1 – Estimated CO2 capture and injection volumes in the EU under the national energy and climate plans (million tonnes per annum)

3.22024 Member States reports under Article 21(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735

In addition to the NECPs, Article 21(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 requires Member States to submit every year to the Commission, a report describing:

·a mapping of CO2 capture projects in progress on its territory or in cooperation with other Member States, and an estimation of the corresponding needs for injection and storage capacities, and CO2 transport;

·a mapping of CO2 storage and CO2 transport projects in progress on its territory, including the status of permitting under Directive 2009/31/EC, expected dates for Final Investment Decision and entry into operation;

·the national support measures that have been or will be adopted to prompt projects as well as measures relating to the cross-border transport of CO2;

·the national strategy and targets that will be and have been set for the capture of CO2 by 2030, where applicable;

·bilateral and regional cooperation that facilitates the cross-border transport of CO2, including their implications for the access of entities capturing CO2 to a safe and non- discriminatory means of transporting CO2; and

·CO2 transport projects in progress and an estimation of the necessary future CO2 transport projects’ capacity to match the corresponding capture and storage capacity.

Article 21(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 further provides that, if a Member State’s report shows that no CO2 storage projects are in progress on their territory, that Member State must report on plans to facilitate the decarbonisation of industrial sectors. This includes, if applicable, the cross-border transport of CO2 to storage sites located in other Member States as well as CO2 utilisation projects. The 2024 reports can be found on the Commission’s website 20 .

While, at the end of 2024, some Member States have not reported storage size or injection capacity, Table 1 provides an indication of the number of storage projects under development in the EU and their potential contribution to the EU injection capacity. Table 1 differentiates between the “storage size”, which is the estimated total CO2 storage capacity of a given storage site, and the “injection capacity”, which is the annual amount of CO2 that can be injected in an operational geological storage site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC. When Member States reported only the names of storage projects, the Commission has added corresponding storage and injection figures. Table 1 does not cover the geological storage potential of Member States and focuses on projects recognised and reported by Member States.

Table 1 - Summary of CO2 storage projects with a 2030 timeline as of 2024.

Table 1 indicates that, at the end of 2024, a total storage potential of around 1 gigatonne should be available by 2030 via different projects located in the EU. Annual injection capacity could reach 33.12 million tonnes of CO2 per annum. Denmark and the Netherlands are currently expected to be the two Member States with the highest injection capacity by 2030, followed by Italy and Greece.

Table 2 summarises the total capture figures reported by Member States and provides a useful indication of the upcoming demand for injection capacity.

Table 2 – Summary of CO2 capture projects with a 2030 storage timeline, as of 2024.

By the end of 2024 Member States estimated that by 2030 CO2 capture capacity could amount to approximately 21 million tonnes per year. This aggregated figure is lower than the aggregated figure from revised NECPs, potentially due to missing capture figures from several Article 21 reports. Assuming relevant NECP estimates for those missing figures, the total EU estimated capture figures from Member States could be above 32 million tonnes per year.

This adjusted estimate indicates that, of the 50 million tonnes per annum EU objective in terms of injecting capacity, 64% could be used by projects known by Member States if transport infrastructure is made available. At the end of 2025, Member States had to update of their estimates, which will be included in the next Commission progress report.

3.3Transparency of storage capacity data under Article 21(1)

Article 21(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 requires that, by 30 December 2024, Member States had to make data on all areas where CO2 storage sites could be permitted on their territory publicly available, without prejudice to requirements regarding the protection of confidential information. This data allows investors to decide where to explore potential CO2 storage sites in the EU.

Article 21(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 further requires that, by 30 December 2024, Member States had to oblige entities which are or have been holders of an authorisation to explore, prospect or produce oil and gas on their territory, to make publicly available on a non-reliance basis: (i) geological data relating to production sites that have been decommissioned or whose decommissioning was notified to the competent authority; and (ii) if available, and unless the entity has applied for an exploration permit, economic assessments of the respective costs of enabling CO2 injection. These economic assessments had to include data on the suitability of the site for sustainably, safely and permanently injecting and storing CO2, and the availability or need for transport infrastructure and modes suitable for safely transporting CO2 to reach the site.

The implementation of Article 21(1)(a) and 21(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 has been mixed.

First, by 30 December 2024, in accordance with Article 21(1)(a), nine Member States stated how they make data publicly available on the areas where CO2 storage sites could be permitted 23 . Second, geological data is publicly available and accessible in only five Member States 24 . Third, only three Member States 25 demonstrated that they have a legal framework that obliges authorised oil and gas companies to publish relevant geological data as required under Article 21(1)(b). The Commission was unable to verify the compliance of 13 Member States due to missing notifications as regards Article 21(1) 26 .

4Overview of planned CO2 storage projects 

4.1Contribution under the 44 obligated entities’ plans

Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 requires the 44 obligated entities to contribute the EU annual injection capacity target of 50 million tonnes to ensure that “CCS as a climate solution is available ahead of demand” 30 . Article 3(28) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 defines ‘CO2 injection capacity’ as the annual amount of CO2 that can be injected in an operational geological storage site. Article 23(1) provides that the injection capacity contribution shall consist of CO2 injection capacity in a storage site permitted in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC and made available to the market by 2030.

At the latest by the end of 2030 obligated entities must demonstrate their contribution to the Union-wide target for CO2 injection capacity by reporting to the Commission and the public that they have been awarded a CO2 storage permit in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC in the EU which allows the injection of the relevant amounts of captured CO2 for at least five years, as defined in Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735. The entities must also demonstrate that this CO2 injection capacity is available to the market, which can be done by reporting at least one storage service agreement with an emitter that wants to use the capacity. Any such contributions can be developed, alone, in cooperation or via agreements with non-obligated storage developers, in accordance with Article 23(5) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

Article 23(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 requires the 44 obligated entities to submit a plan by 30 June 2025 to specify in detail how they intend to meet their contribution to the EU annual injection capacity. Those plans had to confirm the obligated entities’ contribution and specify the means and milestones for reaching these contributions.

All 44 obligated entities have submitted their plans and consider them confidential. Based on these plans submitted in 2025 so far:

(1) only 16 of the 44 obligated entities have confirmed their contribution to the EU target in terms of their assigned volume of annual CO2 injection capacity to be made available to the market by 2030;

(2) none of the 44 obligated entities has confirmed their contribution to the EU target in terms of total CO2 storage capacity 31  to be made available to the market by 2030;

(3) only 25 of the 44 obligated entities have specified in their plans the means and milestones for reaching the targeted volume.

The plans’ means and milestones differ in terms of content and details but can be categorised as follows:

Figure 2 – Type of information included in means and milestones

Among the storage sites mentioned in the plans of the 44 obligated entities, 14 sites are mentioned in several plans, the majority of which are located in the Netherlands (five sites) and Denmark (four sites). Five obligated entities refer to storage sites located outside the EU that cannot be used to demonstrate compliance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

The plans of 19 of the 44 obligated entities state the intention of the entities to meet their individual contribution to the EU annual injection capacity by entering into agreements with other entities, out of which eight also specified the corresponding entity.

Table 3 – Maximum estimated injection capacity available by 2030 as mentioned in the obligated entities’ plans

26 obligated entities have referred to potential or existing EU storage sites that they would use to fulfil their injection capacity contribution. The sum of these storage projects would amount to a maximum injection capacity of 29 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.

The sum of the storage projects indicates that 58% of the EU annual injection capacity could be made available to industrial emitters. Storage projects that are located in the EU, contribute to the EU annual injection capacity target and have applied for a storage permit are net-zero strategic projects, together with the associated capture and storage projects, and should be supported by Member States in line with Articles 13, 15, and 16 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

In their plans, seven obligated entities identify areas where new storage sites could be developed. However, injection capacity figures were not provided for all those new sites. Therefore, based on the plans provided to date, it is still premature to assess whether there will be sufficient storage sites to meet the EU annual injection capacity target in 2030.

Article 23(6) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 requires that, from 30 June 2026 and every year thereafter, the 44 obligated entities submit an annual progress report to the Commission detailing their progress towards meeting their contribution. The Commission shall publish these reports.

Article 5 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1477 further specifies that the reports must contain at least a standard minimum set of information on CO2 storage projects under development by the obligated entities in as much detail as possible at the state of development. This includes the location of the relevant CO2 storage sites, the expected total storage capacity, the expected annual injection capacity and the planned modes of CO2 transportation and related transportation infrastructure that will be needed to operate the site. The reports must also provide contact information for potential storage customers and include a detailed roadmap of the key technical and commercial readiness milestones and decision points, as well as the risks, uncertainties and mitigation strategies that potential commercial customers would need to know to advance their investment decisions.

4.2Overview of existing permits and draft storage permits 

Pursuant to Article 6(1) of Directive 2009/31/EC, Member States must ensure that no storage site is operated without a storage permit. Pursuant to Article 10(1) of Directive 2009/31/EC, Member States must also make the permit applications available to the Commission within one month after receipt and inform the Commission of all draft storage permits. These provisions allow the Commission to estimate the expected injection capacity of storage sites applying for a storage permit. This overview is based on issued storage permits and permit applications made available to the Commission by the end of February 2026.

As of March 2026, three CO2 storage sites were permitted in the EU: the Porthos site in the Netherlands, the Greensand site in Denmark, and the Prinos site in Greece. These facilities have a combined estimated injection capacity of 3.54 million tonnes of CO2 per year, as summarised in Table 4 below.

Table 4 – CO2 storage sites permitted in the EU as of March 2026.

Table 5 lists CO2 storage projects that have submitted a storage permit application to a national competent authority in the EU. Expected injection capacity figures have been calculated by the Commission and do not reflect the injection capacity potential for each storage site. In particular, some figures include a maximum average injection capacity, based on the maximum storage volume divided by the injection period mentioned in the draft permit. The maximum injection capacity for a given site must be specified in the storage permit 37  and could increase for several storage sites if capacity is expanded and permits are amended. 

EU storage projects, with a submitted permit application, could provide 15.6 million tonnes of CO2 in injection capacity, as summarised in Table 5 below.

Table 5 – Storage sites for which a storage permit application has been submitted.

4.3EU storage projects recognised as net-zero strategic projects 

Article 13(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 provides that “Member States shall recognise as net-zero strategic projects CO2 storage projects that meet all of the following criteria:

(a) the CO2 storage site is located in the territory of the Union, its exclusive economic zones or on its continental shelf within the meaning of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

(b) the CO2 storage project contributes to reaching the objective set out in Article 20;

(c) the CO2 storage project has applied for a permit for the safe and permanent geological storage of CO2, in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC

Any CO2 capture project related to a CO2 storage project that fulfils the criteria referred to in the first subparagraph, and any related CO2 infrastructure project necessary for the transport of captured CO2 shall also be recognised as a net-zero strategic project”.

As of February 2026, Member States have recognised the following CO2 storage projects as net-zero strategic projects:

·ACCSION project’s storage site (Denmark)

·ANRAV-CCUS storage site (Bulgaria)

·Potential storage site under the CO2 Hub Northern Denmark (Denmark)

·CO2 Storage Kalundborg (Denmark)

·Greenstore storage site (Denmark)

·P18-2 and P8-4 storage sites (The Netherlands)

·K14, L04-A, and L10 storage sites (The Netherlands).

This list does not include all storage projects in the EU expected to contribute to the EU annual injection capacity target. Member States should urgently recognise net-zero strategic projects to accelerate the pace of project deployment and achieve the EU annual injection capacity target.

5Support under EU and national funding programmes

5.1Contribution of the Innovation Fund 

As of March 2026, the Innovation Fund supports 60 CO2 capture, transport, and storage or utilisation projects with approximately €6.65 billion in grant funding committed. CO2 injection capacity is directly funded by €630 million in grant funding to six CO2 storage and full chain CCS projects with an expected entry into operation by 2030 52 . These projects, listed under Table 6, are expected to provide approximately 7 million tonnes in CO2 injection capacity or 20 % of the EU annual injection capacity target.

33 CO2 capture projects funded under the Innovation Fund portfolio should require 25.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year in injection capacity in storage sites or 50% of the demand for the EU annual injection capacity target. Since 2020, more than 100 CO2 capture projects in total have applied for support from the Innovation Fund. Under those projects, more than 80 million tonnes per year would be captured for permanent storage in the EU.

Table 6 – Projects selected under the Innovation Fund (including pilot projects and projects invited to grant agreement preparation) and contributing to the EU annual injection capacity target through the direct funding of storage facilities.

5.2Contribution of the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy 

Between 2014 and 2024, CO2 network projects requested approximately €2.7 billion in total funding under Connecting Europe Facility for Energy calls. The total amount of funding dedicated to projects, for studies or deployment works, with a signed grant agreement in this period was more than €974 million over 20 CO2 transport and storage infrastructure projects.

·Under the 2021 call, projects applied for €10.6 million and were awarded €4.2 million.

·Under the 2022 call, projects applied for a total of €355 million and were awarded €159 million.

·Under the 2023 call, projects applied for a total of €941 million and were awarded €480 million.

·Under the 2024 call, projects applied for a total of €1.1 billion and were awarded approximately €250 million. 

5.3Contribution of the Recovery and Resilience Facility 

The Recovery and Resilience Facility will support the first phase of the Prinos storage project located in northern Greece. This programme will therefore contribute to the achievement of the EU annual injection capacity target.

5.4Contribution of Horizon Europe 

The Horizon Europe programme Cluster 5 on Climate, Energy and Mobility funded 11 industrial carbon management projects between 2021 and 2024 for a total amount of €141.5 million. Cluster 5 intends, through its Work Programmes for 2025 and 2026-2027, to fund 20 industrial carbon management projects with €126 million.

5.5Contribution from Member States 

Member States funding plays an essential role in ensuring the financial viability of CCS projects. Member States funding represented 14% of the share of public RD&I investment in CCUS technologies in the OECD for the 2014-2024 period 54 . Three examples illustrate the importance of Member States support for CCS deployment.

Denmark is supporting CCS deployment via three funding programmes: the CCUS Fund (8.6 billion Danish kroner (DKK) or €1.15 billion 55 ), the NECCS Fund (2.6 billion DKK or €348 million), and the CCS Fund (26.8 billion DKK or €3.7 billion) for a total funding envelope of approximately 38 billion DKK or €5.1 billion.

In France, the main funding programme to support CCS projects is the ‘Appel d’offres - Grands Projets Industriels de Décarbonation’ open to very large industrial decarbonisation projects for plants operating under the EU ETS 56 . The programme is open to other technologies than CCS and has a total budget of €1 billion.

In the Netherlands, the SDE++ subsidy programme supports CCS projects. Maximum funding available between 2020 and 2023 was €2.1 billion in 2020, €6.7 billion in 2021, and €2 billion in 2023 for CCS projects. These figures represent the maximum amount of subsidy that CCS projects can receive over a period of 15 years. Actual funding depends on the difference between the cost of the projects and the EU ETS price and is expected to be lower.

6State of play in 2025 and next steps

In summary, more than 20 CO2 storage projects are currently under development in the EU. Storage permits were already issued for the Greensand site in Denmark, the Porthos site in the Netherlands, and the Prinos site in Greece. Seven additional CO2 storage projects are applying for a storage permit in the EU. In total, these sites could contribute more than 19 million tonnes per year in CO2 injection capacity. More projects are expected to apply for storage permits in the next years.

Revised NECPs indicated that known CO2 capture projects in Member States could amount to at least 35 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030 with a total injection capacity of 27.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030. In 2024, Member States Article 21 reports reported higher figures. These reports showed that up to 33.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year in injection capacity could be developed by storage projects in the EU by 2030.

The aggregated injection capacity figures of storage projects described in the plans of the 44 obligated entities in June 2025 amount to maximum 29 million tonnes in CO2 injection capacity.

This potential demand comes supported by the Innovation Fund with 25.3 million tonnes per year in captured CO2. However, since 2020, more than 100 individual CO2 capture projects located in the EEA have applied for the Innovation Fund without being selected. Together those additional projects would represent capture volumes of more than 80 million tonnes of CO2 per year and would require corresponding injection capacity. The development of CO2 storage projects in the EU must accelerate to meet demand from industrial emitters and reach the EU annual injection capacity target.

Any CO2 storage project located in the EU and contributing to the EU annual injection capacity target – together with related CO2 capture and related CO2 transport infrastructure – must be recognised by Member States as net-zero strategic projects under Article 13(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735. Industrial emitters that are considering using CCS as a decarbonisation pathway should inform their national authorities, so that their injection capacity demand can be included in the annual Member States reports. Once recognised as net-zero strategic project, those projects must receive the status of the highest national significance possible under and must be treated accordingly in the permit-granting processes. The permit-granting process shall not exceed 18 months for all necessary permits to operate a storage site in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC, under Article 16 of Regulation EU 2024/1735.

Article 6(7) of Regulation 2024/1735 requires that Member States must provide all competent authorities and single points of contacts with sufficient human, financial and technical resources to ensure streamlined permit-granting processes for carbon capture and storage projects.

7Conclusion

Many CO2 storage projects are making fast progress across the EU and are expected to contribute to reaching the EU annual injection capacity target. Storage capacity is expected to increase rapidly in the next months and years. Significant work is still required from all actors, in particular from the 44 obligated entities, to achieve the EU annual injection capacity target. This target is both realistic and ambitious. It can be met if storage projects are developed at an efficient pace.

Most of the planned storage sites are still concentrated around the North Sea area, while a number of Member States in Southern and Eastern Europe are looking to develop both CO2 capture and CO2 storage sites. Plans sent by the 44 obligated entities do not yet detail new injection capacity figures associated with new storage sites. For industries and investors, it is crucial that reporting by Member States and from the obligated entities is improved to get a better picture and to support investments in CO2 capture capacity and CO2 transport infrastructure. From June 2026 onwards, Article 23(6) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 will require the 44 obligated entities to annually report progress towards their contribution to the Commission. These reports will have to describe, in as much detail as possible, the state of development of the storage sites and will be made public by the Commission.

By June 2026, Member States must lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties applicable to infringements by the 44 obligated entities regarding their obligations to contribute to the EU annual injection capacity target, under Article 23(13) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735. These penalties will incentivise the 44 obligated entities to develop new CO2 storage projects in the EU and to complement the existing project pipeline. The mandatory contribution and reporting of those 44 obligated entities will provide industries with a transparent trajectory of planned CO2 storage and injection capacity supply and inform decisions on the use of carbon capture and storage. Additional measures at national level, such as industrial decarbonisation funding schemes, will be needed to support further the development of storage site projects and contribute to achieving the EU annual injection capacity target.

By 30 June 2027, the Commission will report the progress in Member States (Article 21) and by obligated entities (Article 23(6)). On this basis the Commission will also assess, among others, the state of the market in relation to injection capacity, provide an overview of the geographical spread of planned storage sites, and assess whether it is necessary to introduce an objective for 2040 or earlier if needed, under Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

(1)

The 2025 annual Member States reports, which were due by 31 December 2025, are not included in this report.

(2)

Website of the European Commission; Member States reports under Article 21 of the NZIA Regulation .

(3)

 Website of the European Commission; National energy and climate plans .

(4)

Carbon capture and storage projects are eligible for support under the Connecting Europe Facility, the Horizon Europe programme, the Innovation Fund, the LIFE programme, the Modernisation Fund, and the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform.

(5)

Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide and amending Council Directive 85/337/EEC, European Parliament and Council Directives 2000/60/EC, 2001/80/EC, 2004/35/EC, 2006/12/EC, 2008/1/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 (OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 114, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/31/oj).

(6)

  Communication ‘Towards an ambitious Industrial Carbon Management for the EU’ – COM(2024) 62 final.

(7)

  The future of European competitiveness – September 2024.

(8)

  Clean Energy Technology Observatory: Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage in the European Union – 2024 Status Report on Technology Development, Trends, Value Chains and Markets – European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

(9)

Commission Staff Working Document – Investment needs assessment and funding availabilities to strengthen EU's Net-Zero technology manufacturing capacity – SWD(2023) 68 final.

(10)

Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

(11)

 Article 20, Article 23, and Chapter II Section III of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

(12)

 Commission Staff Working Document Impact Assessment Report Part 1 Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Securing our future. Europe’s 2040 climate target and path to climate neutrality by 2050 building a sustainable, just and prosperous society (SWD/2024/63 final). Table 6: Industrial carbon capture and use.

(13)

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Securing our future Europe's 2040 climate target and path to climate neutrality by 2050 building a sustainable, just and prosperous society {COM(2024) 63 final} - {SEC(2024) 64 final} - {SWD(2024) 64 final}.

(14)

Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’).

(15)

  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1477 of 21 May 2025 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the rules on the identification of authorised oil and gas producers who are required to contribute to the objective of reaching the Union target for available CO2 injection capacity by 2030, on the calculation of their respective contributions, and on their reporting obligations.

(16)

  Commission Decision (EU) 2025/1479 of 22 May 2025 specifying the pro rata contributions to the Union CO2 injection capacity objective by 2030 from entities holding an authorisation as defined in Article 1, point 3, of Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(17)

The Silverstone and Northern Lights facilities, located respectively in Iceland and Norway, entered into operation and started injection in 2025.

(18)

  Commission Notice on the Guidance to Member States for the update of the 2021-2030 national energy and climate plans  (2022/C 495/02).

(19)

As of today, Poland has still not submitted an updated NECP.

(20)

 Website of the European Commission; Industrial Carbon Management; The EU's 2030 carbon storage target .

(21)

Some Member States did not report injection figures directly. When specific projects were mentioned, known injection capacity figures were added.

(22)

Denmark did not report injection capacity figures and provided links to the following CO2 storage projects: Greensand, Ruby, Greenstore, and Bifrost.

(23)

Belgium (Flanders region), Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Romania.

(24)

Denmark, France, Hungary, Spain, and the Netherlands.

(25)

Denmark, Germany, and Italy.

(26)

Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

(27)

Belgium, France, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

(28)

Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, and Lithuania.

(29)

Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

(30)

Recital 43: “By defining CO2 storage sites and any related CO2 capture and CO2 infrastructure projects that contribute to the Union’s 2030 target as net-zero strategic projects, the development of CO2 storage sites can be accelerated and facilitated, and the increasing industrial demand for storage sites can be channelled towards the most-cost-effective storage sites. An increasing volume of depleting gas and oil fields that could be converted into safe CO2 storage sites are at the end of their useful production lifetime. In addition, the oil and gas industry has affirmed its determination to embark on an energy transition and possesses the assets, skills and knowledge needed to explore and develop additional storage sites. To reach the Union’s target of 50 million tonnes of annual operational CO2 injection capacity by 2030, the sector needs to pool its contributions to ensure that CCS as a climate solution is available ahead of demand. In order to ensure a timely, Union-wide and cost-effective development of CO2 storage sites in line with the Union objective for injection capacity, licensees of oil and gas production in the Union should contribute to that target on a pro rata basis of their oil and gas manufacturing capacity, while providing flexibilities to cooperate and take into account other contributions of third parties. A value-chain approach should be fostered by actions taken both at Union and national level. Accordingly, licensees of oil and gas production in the Union should undertake the necessary investments and support the development of viable business models for the entire carbon dioxide value chain.”

(31)

 Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 provides that all storage sites shall be designed to operate for a minimum of five years.

(32)

 Website of the Danish Energy Agency – Publications, news and analysis on CCS – Decision on approval of storage plan and permission to store carbon dioxide at Nini A (Nini West) offshore Denmark, Licence C2023/01.

(33)

Website of Energean – Prinos CO2 .

(34)

Based on the maximum storage volume divided by the injection period mentioned in the draft storage permit. The Prinos project plans to have two phases with 1 million tonnes per year in maximum injection capacity in the first phase and 3 million tonnes per year in the second phase. The permit covers Phase 1, which explains the discrepancy with Greece’s foreseen injection capacity mentioned under Table 1.

(35)

Website of the Porthos project.

(36)

 Website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency – Porthos storage permit .

(37)

Article 9(3) of Directive 2009/31/EC states that the permit shall contain at least “the requirements for storage operation, the total quantity of CO2 authorised to be geologically stored, the reservoir pressure limits, and the maximum injection rates and pressures”.

(38)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(39)

Based on the maximum storage volume and the injection period mentioned in the storage permit application.

(40)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(41)

Based on the maximum storage volume and the injection period mentioned in the storage permit application.

(42)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(43)

Based on the maximum storage volume and maximum period of injection mentioned in the draft storage permit.

(44)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(45)

Based on the maximum storage volume and the injection period mentioned in the storage permit application.

(46)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(47)

Based on the maximum storage volume and the injection period mentioned in the storage permit application.

(48)

As mentioned in the storage permit application.

(49)

Based on the maximum storage volume divided by the injection period mentioned in the draft permit.

(50)

 Website of ONE-Dyas –  CO2 Storage .

(51)

Based on the maximum storage volume and the injection period mentioned in the storage permit application.

(52)

 These include projects with signed grants and projects invited to grant agreement preparation. Six full chain CCS and CO2 storage Innovation Fund projects should directly contribute to the development of storage sites in the EU by 2030: ANRAV-CCUS, Danube Removals, Greensand Future, HuCCSar, LaunchStores, and TarraCO2-Storage. A description of Innovation Fund projects can be found on the Commission’s website .

(53)

Website of the LaunchStores project . The LaunchStores covers two offshore CO2 storage sites: L04-A and K14-FAFC. This figure amounts to the maximum storage volume divided by the injection period mentioned in the L04-A and K14-FAFC draft storage permits (see Table 5). The project is planned for a maximum injection capacity of 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year and an average injection capacity of 3.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

(54)

 Clean Energy Technology Observatory: Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage in the European Union – 2024 Status Report on Technology Development, Trends, Value Chains and Markets – European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

(55)

 European Central Bank; Home; Statistics; EUR/DKK exchange rate as of 26 November 2025 .

(56)

 France’s Ministry of Economics and Finance; Accueil ; Espace entreprises ; Appels à projets et à manifestations d’intérêt Grands projets industriels de décarbonation 2024 .