With the Ravenna project and four new plants in Northern Italy, the country is positioning itself to play a key role in Europe’s industrial decarbonisation.
Europe’s race toward carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is accelerating, and Italy is carving out a leading role. By 2030, the country is set to become the third-largest CO₂ storage provider in the EU, with 4 million tonnes per year of announced capacity, largely thanks to the Ravenna project. This initiative is expected to develop into a strategic hub for the Mediterranean area, with an estimated total storage capacity of more than 500 million tonnes.
Decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors
CCUS is increasingly seen as an indispensable solution for reducing emissions from hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as cement, steel, chemicals, ceramics, paper and glass, where electrification and renewable energy alone cannot eliminate process-related emissions. Globally, CCUS facilities are expanding rapidly: there are currently 62 operational plants with a combined capacity of 64 million tonnes per year, and a further 35 under construction. Europe, which today accounts for only 4% of global capacity, aims to become a major player, increasing captured volumes from around 50 million tonnes in 2030 to 450 million tonnes by 2050.
Regulatory and financial challenges
Although the European Union has introduced binding CO₂ storage targets through the Net-Zero Industry Act, regulatory uncertainty and a lack of support mechanisms across the entire value chain remain. Achieving full decarbonisation in the most challenging sectors would require annual investments of between €1.6 and €3.1 billion—significant, but comparable to the levels already planned for renewable energy. Without adequate incentives, the contribution of CCUS to climate targets risks remaining insufficient.
Project and technology evolution
CCUS projects are evolving both in terms of application sectors and final CO₂ destinations. Cement, power generation and waste-to-energy are gaining prominence, while the contribution from natural gas processing is declining. Permanent storage is becoming increasingly important, rising from 22% in 2025 to 66% in 2030, while the use of CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery is decreasing.
In Italy, four projects in the North—across Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy—will add more than 1.2 million tonnes per year of capture capacity. Transport infrastructure favours pipelines for medium-short distances and ships for longer routes, while storage is currently allowed only in depleted hydrocarbon fields. Saline aquifers, widely used in Northern Europe, are not yet utilised in Italy.
Business models and economic outlook
From an economic perspective, CCUS is not yet competitive without support mechanisms: the costs of capture, transport and storage have a significant impact on cement and energy prices. However, rising and volatile EU ETS prices, combined with new revenue-stacking business models, could improve the profitability of CCUS. This may open up market opportunities, including the sale of CO₂ as a commodity, carbon credits and low-carbon products.
In summary, Italy is preparing to play a central role in Europe’s industrial decarbonisation, but the success of its CCUS strategy will depend on adequate incentives, infrastructure development and strong coordination among all stakeholders along the value chain.
