Pau, 10 October 2024
“Check against delivery”
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Hello everybody,
Welcome to this 4th Industrial Carbon Management Forum. We are breaking another record in terms of participation – we have 550 people in the room and many more watching online. It is great to see so many of you! Before I dive in, I want to thank the French Ministry of Energy and the city of Pau for their warm hospitality. Let me also commend France for its visionary strategy and ambitious industrial carbon management projects. Your leadership in the sector sets the perfect stage for today’s event.
2024 stands out as a pivotal year for industrial carbon management in Europe. Last February, the European Commission published its strategy on scaling up carbon management. It shines a light on the challenges we face. It also pinpoints where the Commission and Member States must intensify efforts to dismantle barriers. Most importantly, the Strategy sends an important signal to the market and investors.
And the message is clear: Carbon capture, utilisation and storage will play a major role in our journey to 2050. The 2040 Climate Target Plan underlines that industrial carbon management is not just an alternative. It is a vital complement to renewables and energy efficiency.
Alongside all this, we are seeing tangible, on-the-ground progress. In the EU and around the world, the drive for industrial carbon management is gaining ground, proving how much these technologies matter for achieving climate neutrality.
Consider this: in 2023 alone, the world doubled its industrial carbon management projects. In Europe we are charting new territories, with storage capacities across Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Italy, building on what has already been done in the front-running area of the North Sea. Denmark made history this June, awarding its first onshore CO2 storage exploration licenses.
And there is more – the Longship facility in Norway is now operational; Porthos in the Netherlands is breaking ground; and in Ravenna, Italy, CO2 injections for storage are underway. Here in France, the D’Artagnan project, is expected to begin construction next year, pioneering open access infrastructure for the transport, liquefaction and export of CO2 through maritime channels.
Yet, despite such important milestones, the pace of industrial carbon management roll-out must quicken. We need to do more. We need to go further. This is why, since our last meeting in Aalborg, we have taken a number of actions – both legislative and non-legislative – to propel us forward.
I already mentioned the Industrial Management Strategy. Both this Strategy and the Net Zero Industry Act set the ambitious target of 50 million tonnes of CO2 storage capacity annually by 2030. We are clear-eyed in what we aim to do. And that is scale-up these technologies and help create a single market for CO2 in Europe.
To get there, one of our top priorities is to stimulate the deployment of CO2 networks across the EU. We currently have 14 projects of common interest and projects of mutual interest related to CO2 transport. This means that these projects are eligible to apply for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility.
Five of these CO2 infrastructure projects were awarded EU co-funding under the Connecting Europe Facility in December last year. On top of this, the Innovation Fund supports carbon capture projects that will allow capture of 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually as of 2027.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Everything I have just spoken about is making a difference for the pace of industrial carbon management in Europe.
However, we still have some major challenges to tackle. These are identified in our Industrial Carbon Management Strategy: high costs, regulatory disparities, and insufficient coordination. Consider the issue of costs. Industrial carbon management technologies face high capital investment costs, which are typically seen in all emerging markets. To bridge this gap, we must implement targeted de-risking measures and provide the necessary financial support. This will help to reach final investment decisions on these projects.
The second barrier is the patchwork of regulatory approaches across Member States which differ in scope and speed. This contributes to a fragmented market where emitters lack clear visibility or even equal access to CO2 transport to storage sites within the EU. The solution is a comprehensive European CO2 transport regulatory package. This would guarantee fair, open access to an integrated, multi-modal CO2 network, diminishing risks and driving down costs for those championing these projects. Preparatory work has already started but it will be for my successor to take this forward.
Third, we grapple with inadequate coordination. We also do not have a clear picture of available CO2 storage facilities and CO2 captured by emitters. This makes the environment less predictable for promoters. Good coordination across industrial carbon management pathways is critical for establishing a robust business case and giving investors greater certainty.
The Strategy foresees the creation of an investment atlas mapping all potential CO2 storage sites and initiatives. In addition, the Commission is developing a knowledge-sharing platform to enhance collaboration between projects and stimulate investment in industrial carbon management projects across Member States.
The bottom line is that a lot of work has been done, there is progress, but we still have some way to go to scale up industrial carbon management. What has changed as compared as one year ago is that we have now a Strategy and a plan of what we need to do next. And despite uncertainties, projects are making real progress.
Let me thank the Working Groups established under this Forum: on CO2 infrastructure, CO2 standards, Carbon Capture and Utilisation and on public perception.
You are playing a key role in the implementation of the Strategy. You provide invaluable in-depth bottom-up analysis and recommendations to address the barriers we face. Thank you for all your tireless work over the past years and the work yet to come. We look forward to hearing the state of play of your work during this forum.
Dear friends,
CCUS is an essential technology. It’s pivotal for reaching our 2040 and 2050 climate objectives, and ensures our industries and economies remain globally competitive.
Rest assured that it will stay high on the Commission’s agenda. The political guidelines for the next Commission and Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report make that clear.
I am confident that my successors will build on everything that has been done over these past years to address remaining barriers and take industrial carbon management to the next level.
I wish you a good Forum and I look forward to reading your conclusions.
Thank you for your attention.
Source – EU Commission