The EU’s carbon storage target falls 35% short due to value chain fragmentation

The gap is further widened when delays and deficiencies are taken into account across the capture and transport value chain.

The European Union is on track to miss its legally set carbon capture and storage (CCS) target of at least 17.5 million tonnes per year, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis, even if all projects currently in advanced stages of development are implemented as planned. This conclusion comes from an independent study commissioned by ExxonMobil, OMV Petrom, Shell and TotalEnergies. Wood Mackenzie’s analysis assesses storage capacity that will be fully operational by the end of 2030, the yardstick by which the injection target set by the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) is measured. On this basis, the EU is 35% below the threshold of 50 million tonnes per year, and the gap increases even further when delays and shortcomings in the entire capture and transport value chain are taken into account.

This is Wood Mackenzie’s second report for these four companies. While the October 2025 study focused on the feasibility of storage, this new analysis examines capture, transport, and storage as an interconnected system.

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