Poland needs carbon capture for heavy industry, but projects cannot yet attract large-scale funding.

Poland has industries that need carbon capture and storage, geological formations with potential for CO₂ storage, and projects in initial stages, but it still lacks the rules, infrastructure, and financial mechanisms necessary for large-scale technology development, according to an analysis by the Clean Air Task Force. The organization believes that individual projects are not sufficient and that authorities need to build a system in which carbon capture, transport, and storage can repeatedly attract private investments.

In short, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can help Polish industries in cement, lime, chemicals, oil, and refining reduce emissions from processes that cannot be completely decarbonized through electrification. Poland has geological potential for CO₂ storage and projects in early stages, but these projects still lack a sufficiently predictable framework to become fundable and scalable. The Clean Air Task Force identifies legislative uncertainty and insufficiently predictable revenues as the most urgent obstacles to investment. The report calls for a national strategy for carbon capture and storage, clear rules for CO₂ transport and storage, and instruments such as contracts for difference applied to carbon. Market development also depends on accessible pipelines, terminals, and storage capacities, functional permitting procedures, insurance, supply chains, qualified personnel, and community acceptance of projects.

Carbon Capture and Storage, known by the abbreviation CCS, aims to separate carbon dioxide produced by an industrial facility, transport it to a suitable site, and permanently store it in geological formations.

The Clean Air Task Force analysis focuses on emissions from industrial processes for which electrification does not provide a complete solution on its own. In certain activities, emissions result not only from the energy used but also from the chemical transformations necessary for manufacturing the product.

The document mentions cement, lime, chemicals, oil, and refining among the sectors where carbon capture can contribute to emission reductions. These industries are important for the Polish economy and consume large amounts of energy, but they also face pressure to reduce their climate impact.

CCS does not eliminate all environmental problems and does not replace other options for reducing emissions. The analysis presents it as a tool specifically intended for processes where available alternatives are limited.

Poland meets several initial conditions for technology development. It has an industrial base that could utilize carbon capture, geological potential for CO₂ storage, and a number of projects in the early stages of preparation.

The existence of these elements does not guarantee, however, that the projects will reach construction and operation. A company must know whether it can obtain permits, where it will transport the captured carbon, who will manage the storage site, and whether the revenues or savings generated will cover the investment and operating costs.

The Clean Air Task Force believes that Poland has not yet created the necessary environment to transform initial interest into fundable projects. The two most urgent issues are the lack of sufficient certainty regarding the rules and the absence of predictable revenues.

Legislative uncertainty can affect several stages of a project. The investor must know the responsibilities of the carbon capture facility operator, the company transporting CO₂, and the storage site manager.

Conditions must also be established under which carbon can flow between facilities, regions, or states, the requirements applicable to storage sites, and how risks are managed during operation and after the closure of a site.

The report therefore calls for a clear legal framework for CO₂ transport and storage. Without such rules, companies cannot accurately calculate the risks, costs, and responsibilities they would assume.

The second issue is the ability of projects to generate sufficiently stable revenues. Installing capture equipment, building transport infrastructure, and developing storage sites require capital before the system can operate.

At the same time, the economic value of emission reductions may depend on carbon prices, public policies, and demand for industrial products with a lower footprint.

If these revenues or savings are too small or too volatile, financiers may consider the project too risky. A technology may function technically and have a climate role, but may not be able to attract capital under commercial conditions.

The Clean Air Task Force recommends instruments to stabilize revenues, including contracts for difference applied to carbon. Such a mechanism would reduce the gap between the revenue level needed for the project and the value obtained in the market.

The document does not establish the exact form of the instrument, the value of support, or the sectors that should receive the first benefits. These elements should be established through national policy and by designing funding mechanisms.

Support should not only aim at launching a demonstration facility. The analysis uses the concept of "systemic fundability," whereby the entire market is organized so that projects can be successively funded and scaled up.

A single project can be supported through a grant, a public guarantee, or an individual agreement. This does not mean that the next project will find the infrastructure, regulations, and investors it needs.

A market can grow when participants trust that the rules will remain applicable, that facilities will be able to use common infrastructure, and that there is sufficient capacity for designing, permitting, constructing, and securing investments.

The report calls for a national strategy to coordinate these components. The strategy should provide a common direction for industry, authorities, infrastructure operators, and investors.

A national framework can identify the industries for which CCS is most relevant, the regions where emissions are concentrated, the necessary infrastructure, and the order in which projects could be developed.

The report published by the Clean Air Task Force does not provide in the available material a hint regarding the amount of CO₂ that Poland should capture and store, nor a complete timeline for building the system.

The central recommendation is to move from treating each project separately to planning a network in which industrial facilities can access transport and storage.

Access to infrastructure is an essential condition. A factory can install capture equipment, but the separated carbon must then be moved to a place where it can be permanently stored.

If each company has to build the entire route on its own, costs and risks can become too high. Infrastructure used by multiple projects can allow for cost-sharing and the gradual connection of other facilities.

The analysis mentions access to CO₂ transport and storage among the necessary elements for sector development, without specifying the routes, technologies, or locations that should be selected.

The development of storage must evolve together with capture projects. If industrial facilities are ready before the storage sites, there is nowhere for the carbon to be transported. If storage sites are built without sufficient clients, operators cannot recover their investments.

Coordinating the timeline can reduce this imbalance. Authorities can help establish the necessary capacity and connect projects that would otherwise be developed independently.

Administrative capacity is another identified obstacle. Authorities must be able to evaluate projects, issue permits, and coordinate decisions made in the fields of industry, environment, energy, and infrastructure.

A permitting procedure can become slow when institutions do not have enough staff or experience to analyze the technologies and risks involved.

The report calls for strengthening the administration responsible for coordinating and permitting projects. The predictability of procedures can be as important for investors as the formal existence of a rule.

A project that does not know how long the evaluation will take or what additional information will be requested cannot accurately establish the construction date, financing costs, and the timing of activity commencement.

The analysis also includes insurance among the components of the system. Projects must be able to cover the risks associated with construction, operation, transport, and storage.

The lack of adequate insurance products can hinder financing, even if the technology and legislative framework are ready. Institutional investors need a clear distribution of risks and protection against events that can cause losses.

Supply chains and implementation capacity are also necessary. The expansion of the sector involves equipment, technical services, builders, and personnel who can deliver multiple projects, not just an isolated facility.

If demand grows faster than suppliers' capacity, costs and delays can increase. A long-term strategy can provide the industry with sufficient visibility for investments in production, skills, and personnel.

Social acceptance is mentioned among the conditions for development. Transport and storage projects can affect communities and territories, and the population must receive information about the location, operation, and risks.

A lack of trust can delay projects or prevent their realization. Community consultation is not presented as a step that can begin after all decisions are made, but as part of building the development framework.

The report believes that public institutions must view "systemic fundability" beyond the performance and cost of technology. An efficient piece of equipment does not alone create the necessary infrastructure, insurance, regulation, and administrative capacity.

"Poland has the industrial need, geological potential, and an initial portfolio of projects for CCS," said Clean Air Task Force advisor for Central and Eastern Europe, Bartłomiej Kupiec.

"What it still lacks is the necessary framework to move from initial interest to fundable projects. The report presents a practical roadmap for closing this gap," he added.

The director of the Clean Air Task Force's electricity program, Kasparas Spokas, pointed out that emerging clean infrastructure technologies do not expand just because an individual project is viable.

Development on a larger scale requires, according to him, infrastructure, sustainable rules, availability of insurance, resilient supply chains, and the ability to deliver projects under conditions that allow institutional investor participation.

The analysis links carbon capture to the competitiveness of the Polish industry. Reducing emissions can help energy-intensive companies maintain their operations in a European economy that imposes increasingly strict climate requirements.

The document does not estimate the total cost of the transition, the impact on industrial product prices, or the volume of private investments that could be attracted if the recommendations are applied.

Neither individual projects in preparation nor their planned capacity are identified. The material focuses on the general conditions necessary for the entire sector.

The recommendations come from the Clean Air Task Force and do not represent a strategy already adopted by the Polish government. The document does not announce new decisions regarding financing, permitting, or building infrastructure.

The organization argues that the lack of a coordinated response can keep projects at an initial stage, even though the industrial need and storage potential exist.

The Clean Air Task Force is a nonprofit organization that promotes the development and use of low-carbon emission technologies. The analysis regarding Poland applies a "systemic fundability" framework to assess the conditions that emerging infrastructure technologies need to attract investments.

The report concludes that the role of carbon capture and storage in decarbonizing the Polish industry will depend on the simultaneous construction of rules, infrastructure, financial support, and administrative capacity. Without these components, individual projects may remain technically viable but insufficiently predictable for funding and large-scale development.