CCUS Investment Tops $5 Billion, But the IEA Says the Hard Part Is Ahead

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is having a real moment. A new report from the International Energy Agency says global CCUS investment has surged more than fifteenfold since 2020, crossing $5 billion in 2025. That's not a typo. The sector has gone from a niche policy talking point to a legitimate destination for serious capital, and the numbers are starting to show it.

The report, titled Financing CCUS at Scale, also found that more than 30 projects reached final investment decisions in the past two years alone, with Europe and North America leading the charge across industrial, transport, and storage segments.

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That momentum is showing up in capacity figures too. Operational capture capacity is set to nearly double by 2030, based on the current pipeline of projects under construction. IEA Around 50 million tons per annum (Mtpa) is currently active, and the numbers are expected to climb fast if developers follow through.

A Shift Toward Dedicated Storage

One of the more telling findings in the report is where future investment is actually headed. While carbon capture has historically been paired with industrial utilization, the pipeline is tilting hard toward dedicated CO2 storage. Storage-focused projects currently account for roughly 20% of operating capacity but are projected to represent more than 90% of the pipeline by 2035. IEA

That's a structural change, not just a trend. It signals that developers are building for long-term permanence, not just short-term applications.

North America is still setting the pace globally, backed by policy incentives and tax credit structures, including mechanisms like the 45Q credit, that have made project economics more workable and opened the door to new financing models.

Financing Gaps Are the Real Bottleneck

The IEA isn't just celebrating the wins here. Around 90% of projects announced for 2035 have yet to reach final investment decision, and a number of projects have already been cancelled or withdrawn from government tenders in the face of uncertain financing conditions. IEA

The core issue is structural. CCUS projects span capture, transport, and storage, often involving multiple parties across a complex value chain. That makes risk allocation genuinely difficult, and investors don't love uncertainty.

More than $15 billion in commercial debt has been raised over the past two years, primarily through a handful of landmark non-recourse transactions in Europe and North America. IEA But that concentration is also part of the problem. The pool of participating lenders and investors is still too narrow to sustain the scale the sector needs.

The IEA's recommendation is direct: governments need to move toward targeted risk-sharing instruments, such as long-term revenue guarantees, rather than relying purely on upfront grants. Scaling CCUS will require aligning business models, policy frameworks, and financial structures. IEA

The investment curve is moving in the right direction. Whether the financing architecture can keep up with it is the question that's going to define the next decade for this sector.

About the International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organization based in Paris that works with governments and industry to shape a secure and sustainable energy future. Its research spans energy markets, clean technology, and climate policy across more than 30 member countries.