Global operational carbon capture and storage capacity reached approximately 50 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in 2025, according to the Global CCS Institute — yet the IEA’s net-zero pathway requires over 1,000 MTPA by 2050. The CCS projects 2026 ranked here represent the operational and advanced-development assets closing that gap, scored primarily on verified CO₂ capture capacity, with operational status and strategic scale as secondary criteria.
How We Ranked the Top 10 CCS Projects 2026
Projects are ranked by verified annual CO₂ capture capacity in MTPA, with confirmed operational status weighted above projects still in construction or commissioning. Strategic significance — open-access infrastructure, cross-border storage, first-of-kind technology — is used as a tiebreaker where capacity figures are comparable. Figures are sourced from operator announcements, the Global CCS Institute, and the IEA CCS tracking programme.
1. Century Plant — USA
Century Plant in the Permian Basin, West Texas, is the largest CCS operation in the United States by CO₂ volume. The facility processes high-CO₂ natural gas from the Bravo Dome and Val Verde fields, stripping approximately 8.4 MTPA of carbon dioxide before pipeline delivery to the Permian for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) injection. Operated under a processing agreement with Apache Corporation, the plant has been in continuous operation since 2010. At that capture volume, it ranks among the top two or three CCS projects 2026 by gross throughput globally.
2. Gorgon CCS — Australia
Gorgon Carbon Dioxide Injection, operated by Chevron with Shell and ExxonMobil as co-venturers, is the world’s largest dedicated CCS project at an LNG facility. Located on Barrow Island off Western Australia, the project injects CO₂ separated from reservoir gas into the Dupuy Formation at approximately 2,000 metres depth. Design capacity is 4 MTPA. Performance has historically run below nameplate — cumulative injection reached around 8 million tonnes by 2024 against a catch-up target — but the project remains operational and the largest pure CCS project (non-EOR) by installed capacity on this list of CCS projects 2026.
3. Sleipner CO₂ Storage — Norway
Sleipner, operated by Equinor in the Norwegian North Sea, has stored CO₂ continuously since 1996 — the world’s first offshore CCS project. CO₂ stripped from the Sleipner West gas field is injected into the Utsira Formation saline aquifer at around 1,000 metres depth, at a rate of approximately 1 MTPA. Cumulative storage has exceeded 25 million tonnes. Sleipner established the geological and monitoring baseline on which every subsequent offshore CCS project 2026 has built its design case.
4. Northern Lights — Norway
Northern Lights (Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies) is the first open-access CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure of its scale. Phase 1, operational from 2024, has licensed capacity of 1.5 MTPA, with CO₂ shipped by vessel from industrial emitters across Europe to the Øygarden receiving terminal and injected into the Johansen Formation beneath the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Phase 2, targeting 5 MTPA, is in permitting. Northern Lights sets the template for cross-border, third-party-access CCS projects 2026 — an infrastructure model rather than a single-emitter solution.
5. Snøhvit CO₂ Storage — Norway
Snøhvit, also operated by Equinor, has injected CO₂ from the onshore Melkøya LNG plant into the Tubåen Formation in the Barents Sea since 2008, at approximately 0.7 MTPA. An injection well blockage in 2011 required a switch to the Stø Formation — a sequencing challenge that added to the project’s technical record. Snøhvit’s coexistence with Hammerfest LNG operations makes it a direct example of CCS integration at a producing LNG asset, and its geology has informed Norwegian North Sea storage assessments for newer CCS projects 2026.
6. Quest CCS — Canada
Quest, operated by Shell Canada with co-venturers Canadian Natural Resources and Chevron Canada, captures CO₂ from Shell’s Scotford oil sands upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta. Design capacity is approximately 1.2 MTPA, injected into the Basal Cambrian Sands saline aquifer. Quest has been operational since 2015 and has stored over 9 million tonnes cumulatively to 2024. It remains the primary reference project for oil sands CCS and one of the longest-running onshore saline aquifer storage operations among CCS projects 2026.
7. Porthos — Netherlands
Porthos (Port of Rotterdam CO₂ Transport Hub and Offshore Storage) is the most advanced CCS infrastructure project in continental Europe. The consortium — EBN, Gasunie, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority — will collect CO₂ from four Rotterdam industrial emitters (Shell, ExxonMobil, Air Liquide, Air Products), compress it onshore, and pipeline it offshore for injection into depleted gas fields beneath the North Sea. Target capacity is 2.5 MTPA, with first injection targeted in 2026. Porthos sits at the centre of Rotterdam’s wider energy transition infrastructure, which also encompasses ammonia imports, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuel logistics.
8. Boundary Dam CCS — Canada
Boundary Dam Unit 3, operated by SaskPower in Saskatchewan, became the world’s first commercial-scale post-combustion CCS project at a coal-fired power station when it commissioned in 2014. Design capture capacity is approximately 1 MTPA CO₂, with captured gas sold for EOR use in the Weyburn oilfield. Actual capture performance has run below design nameplate due to equipment reliability issues, but the project has accumulated over 5 million tonnes of captured CO₂ and provides the most detailed operational dataset on post-combustion coal CCS of any project in the 2026 global fleet.
9. Greensand — Denmark
Greensand, led by INEOS Energy and TotalEnergies, is Denmark’s first offshore CO₂ storage project. Phase 1 injected a small pilot volume into the Nini West reservoir in the Danish North Sea in 2023, demonstrating regulatory and technical feasibility. Full-scale development targets 1.5 MTPA by 2025 and up to 8 MTPA by 2030, using depleted oil and gas reservoirs as storage formations. The project has secured Danish state storage licences and is developing CO₂ import infrastructure at the port of Esbjerg. Greensand is among the CCS projects 2026 with the highest stated long-term capacity ambition in the North Sea basin.
10. Hewett CO₂ Storage — UK
Eni’s Hewett depleted gas field in the southern North Sea is being developed as a CO₂ storage site under the UK’s Cluster Sequencing programme. The Eni North Sea CCS project at Hewett targets initial injection of 2 MTPA, with a stated long-term potential of 4.5 MTPA across the field complex. Hewett is part of the HyNet North West cluster, connecting industrial emitters in the Merseyside and North Wales region to offshore storage via a dedicated pipeline. It is one of the most advanced of the UK’s Track-1 CCS projects 2026 by permitting and engineering status.
The Future of CCS Projects 2026: Capacity, Cost, and Scale
The IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 scenario requires approximately 1.7 billion tonnes of annual CO₂ capture by 2050 — against a current operational base of roughly 50 MTPA. The Global CCS Institute’s 2024 status report identified over 600 projects in various development stages globally, with the pipeline weighted heavily toward the USA (IRA tax credits), Norway (Northern Lights Phase 2), and the UK (Cluster Sequencing Track 2). The ten CCS projects 2026 ranked here account for the majority of current operational capacity — but they represent a fraction of what the net-zero transition requires the sector to build and operate in the next two decades.
What is the world’s largest CCS project in 2026?
By CO₂ volume, the Century Plant in West Texas is the largest CCS operation in the United States, processing approximately 8.4 MTPA of CO₂ from natural gas fields for injection into the Permian Basin via enhanced oil recovery. Gorgon CCS in Australia holds the largest dedicated geological storage capacity at an LNG facility, with a 4 MTPA design capacity.
What criteria determine the ranking of CCS projects 2026?
Projects are ranked primarily by verified annual CO₂ capture capacity in million tonnes per annum (MTPA), as reported by operators, the Global CCS Institute, or the IEA. Operational status is weighted above projects still in construction. Strategic significance — such as open-access infrastructure or first-of-kind technology — is used as a secondary tiebreaker where capacity figures are close.
Which countries are leading on CCS projects in 2026?
Norway has the deepest operational track record, with Sleipner (since 1996), Snøhvit, and the new Northern Lights open-access infrastructure. The USA leads by total CO₂ volume processed, driven by natural gas processing and EOR-linked projects. Canada has two long-running projects at Quest and Boundary Dam. The Netherlands (Porthos), Denmark (Greensand), and the UK (Hewett/HyNet) represent the advancing European project pipeline.
What is Northern Lights CCS and why does it matter?
Northern Lights is a joint venture between Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies that operates open-access CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure in Norway. Phase 1, operational from 2024, accepts CO₂ shipped from industrial emitters across Europe, storing it in the Johansen Formation beneath the Norwegian Continental Shelf at 1.5 MTPA. Its significance lies in the open-access model — any industrial emitter can contract storage capacity, making it a shared infrastructure solution rather than a single-site project.
How much CO₂ do the top CCS projects capture annually?
Combined operational capacity across the ten projects ranked here is approximately 25–28 MTPA CO₂, though actual injection rates vary from nameplate design. The IEA estimates total global operational CCS capacity at around 50 MTPA as of 2025. The Global CCS Institute tracks over 600 projects in development globally, with the majority yet to reach final investment decision.