David Whitehouse, CEO of Offshore Energies UK
UK poised for surge in CCS investment
Country has Europe’s largest CO₂ storage potential but regulatory and policy issues must be resolved to enable growth, says Offshore Energies UK
Investment in the UK’s CCS sector is expected to rise sharply through the end of this decade as developers look to exploit the country’s 78GT of CO₂ storage potential, the largest in Europe, according to industry group Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). Over the next decade, the UK CCS market is anticipated to grow to around £2b/yr ($2.53b) by 2030 and potentially £3b/yr by 2040. This would mean a cumulative £20b spend to 2035 and £34b to 2040. Unlocking CO₂ imports will offer an opportunity to increase this further, potentially by another £10b, OEUK said in its 2024 Business and Supply Chain Outlook report. £3b – Annual CCS spend in 2040 “The capex intensity and front-loaded nature o
Also in this section
12 March 2026
Role of world’s largest carbon cap-and-trade market under scrutiny as war in Iran threatens to drive EU energy costs to unsustainable levels
10 March 2026
Europe urgently needs to bring more projects to FID, as CCS investors warn they might divert capital to faster-growing regions
9 January 2026
A shift in perspective is needed on the carbon challenge, the success of which will determine the speed and extent of emissions cuts and how industries adapt to the new environment
2 January 2026
This year may be a defining one for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the US, despite the institutional uncertainty
