CCUS investment: what will separate the projects that move forward?

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is entering a more selective phase.

As the industry matures, attention is shifting away from the scale of project announcements towards a more fundamental question: which CCUS projects can successfully reach final investment decision and commercial operation?

That question ran through discussions at Wood Mackenzie’s fourth annual CCUS Conference, held in Houston in October 2026. Nearly 300 participants from more than 150 organisations across the CCUS value chain joined the event, including energy companies, financial and insurance institutions, technology and engineering firms and project developers.

Three themes stood out: the growing importance of reliable power, the challenge of reducing the cost of proven capture technology, and the need to build durable revenue models.

How are energy security and rising power demand reshaping CCS?

Rapid growth in electricity demand from AI and data centres is putting the power sector increasingly at the centre of the CCS opportunity.

Hyperscalers are looking for reliable, lower-carbon power that can support expanding electricity requirements while meeting decarbonisation commitments. This creates an opportunity for CCS, but demand alone does not make projects investable.

Conference discussions highlighted that capital is increasingly concentrated around projects where development risk has already been reduced. Secured and permitted storage, experienced partners, proven capture technology, clear cost visibility and durable revenues are becoming important foundations for projects seeking to reach final investment decision.

For developers, this reinforces a wider shift across the CCUS market: execution is becoming as important as ambition.

If carbon capture technology is proven, what is holding deployment back?

For post-combustion capture, the central challenge is increasingly one of economics and scale rather than technological feasibility.

Amine-based capture is commercially established and remains a preferred option for many projects, but costs are high. Energy market volatility, inflation and higher raw-material prices are adding further pressure.

Alternative technologies could ultimately reduce capture costs, but many still require commercial-scale demonstration and policy support before developers and investors are comfortable deploying them widely. In the meantime, the industry is focusing on standardisation, project replication and greater supply-chain maturity to improve economics.

Yet these benefits depend on projects actually progressing. Permitting and regulatory hurdles, alongside retrofit and integration complexity, continue to constrain deployment. In harder-to-abate sectors, the economics can remain challenging even as project experience grows.

The result is that CCS is unlikely to become a fully market-driven industry in the near term. For many projects, policy support and multiple sources of revenue will remain important.

Can CCUS projects build durable long-term revenues?

This leads to perhaps the most important commercial question facing the sector: what happens as current incentives evolve or expire?

Support mechanisms such as the US 45Q tax credit have played an important role in project economics. But incentives are time limited, meaning developers have to consider how projects can remain viable over much longer operating lives. [

For many projects, the answer is likely to involve combining several sources of value rather than relying on one.

Carbon markets and environmental attribute certificates are among the mechanisms being explored alongside government and market-driven incentives. The voluntary carbon market could also provide a bridge towards more mature compliance and commercial markets, although questions remain around the depth and durability of demand.

What will determine the next phase of CCUS?

The next stage of CCUS development will not be defined simply by how many projects enter the pipeline, but by how effectively individual projects address risk across the value chain.

Access to transport and permitted storage, clear carbon-accounting frameworks, durable policy support and stronger demand signals will all matter. So will partnerships that bring together the expertise needed to manage increasingly complex projects.

The opportunity for CCUS remains significant. But as scrutiny increases, the projects best placed to progress will be those that can turn technical capability into commercially durable, executable business models.

Join us in 2027 to continue the conversation and hear from leaders from across the CCUS value chain. Register for the 2027 CCUS Conference.