New analysis from CaptureMap is challenging the widely held view that carbon storage is the primary bottleneck in Europe’s carbon capture, utilization and storage industry, pointing instead to misalignment across the CCUS value chain as the more critical constraint.

CaptureMap, a CCUS market intelligence platform developed by Endrava AS, reports that Europe currently has 117 tracked storage projects, with 17 having passed final investment decision. Those projects represent about 18.7 million metric tons per year of announced carbon dioxide injection capacity, or less than 5% of total planned storage capacity.

While those figures are often cited as evidence that storage development is lagging, CaptureMap’s data show a more nuanced picture when capture projects are considered alongside storage.

According to the analysis, 98 commercial-scale capture projects in Europe have passed final investment decision, representing approximately 15.9 million metric tons per year of capture capacity. About 9.7 million metric tons per year across 21 projects is linked to geological storage, while roughly 6.1 million metric tons per year across 69 projects is directed toward CO₂ utilization.

At an aggregate level, storage capacity that has reached final investment decision slightly exceeds the volume of captured emissions intended for geological storage, suggesting storage is not uniformly trailing capture development.

The findings indicate that the central challenge is not simply the availability of storage volume but coordination across capture, transport and storage systems. Storage sites are not always located near major emission sources, transport infrastructure does not always move in step with capture and storage timelines, and regulatory and funding deadlines for emitters frequently conflict with storage development schedules.

These misalignments are becoming more pressing as the European Union’s Net-Zero Industry Act sets a target of 50 million metric tons per year of operational CO₂ injection capacity by 2030. While existing projects that have passed final investment decision represent significant progress, CaptureMap’s analysis highlights the scale of acceleration still required.

“Aggregated numbers can be misleading,” said Valentin Vandenmolden, co-founder and technical lead at Endrava. “The real question is not whether Europe has storage or capture. It’s whether the right storage is available for the right emitters at the right time.”

Eric Rambech, co-founder and commercial lead at Endrava, said the common bottleneck narrative oversimplifies the challenge. “Storage is progressing, but coordination across the value chain remains the core issue,” he said. “That’s why integrated CCUS intelligence matters.”

CaptureMap brings together emissions data, capture projects, and transport and storage infrastructure into a single, structured and continuously updated system, enabling stakeholders to assess technology readiness, geography, regulatory status and infrastructure alignment.

Europe has become a focal point for this type of system-level analysis due to its complex CCUS landscape, shaped by cross-border shipping, offshore storage hubs, industrial clusters and regulated storage obligations. CaptureMap currently focuses its transport and storage infrastructure coverage on Europe, with plans to expand into additional regions, including North America.

The analysis concludes that debates over whether capture or storage is “leading” risk missing the broader issue. As CCUS deployment accelerates, the sector is increasingly constrained by coordination rather than lack of ambition or project announcements.

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CaptureMap analysis finds coordination is key challenge for European CCUS

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