Poland needs carbon capture and storage to decarbonise heavy industry, but CCS will only scale if the full system becomes bankable
Poland has the industrial need, geological storage potential, and early-stage projects for carbon capture and storage (CCS) – but not yet the conditions to make it scale. A new report from Clean Air Task Force (CATF), Achieving Systemic Bankability of Carbon Capture and Storage in Poland, provides a roadmap to move from early-stage carbon capture and storage projects to large-scale facilities, drawing on the systemic bankability framework.
Carbon capture and storage can help cut CO₂ emissions from industrial processes that are difficult to decarbonise fully through electrification, including those in the cement, lime, chemicals, steel, and refining sectors. But CCS will not scale in Poland through isolated projects alone. By applying the systemic bankability framework to Poland’s CCS sector, the report lays out how the country can create the conditions that allow an entire technology ecosystem, not just one project, to attract private capital repeatedly and at scale.
For carbon capture and storage in Poland, that means clearer rules, stronger revenue support, access to CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, better permitting capacity, and social acceptance.
“Poland has the industrial need, geological potential, and early project pipeline for CCS,” said Bartłomiej Kupiec, Policy Advisor, Central and Eastern Europe at Clean Air Task Force. “What it does not yet have is the enabling framework needed to move from early interest to financeable projects. This report sets out a practical roadmap for closing that gap.”
The report identifies regulatory certainty and revenue adequacy as the two most immediate barriers to CCS investment in Poland. It calls for a national CCS strategy, a clear legal framework for CO₂ transport and storage, revenue-stabilising instruments such as carbon contracts for difference, and stronger administrative capacity to coordinate and permit projects.
“Emerging clean infrastructure technologies do not scale just because one project is viable,” said Kasparas Spokas, Director, Electricity Program at Clean Air Task Force. “They scale when the system around infrastructure development, regulation durability, insurance availability, supply chains resiliency, and delivery capacity support institutional investors . That is what systemic bankability is designed to diagnose — and what policymakers need to address other than technology performance and cost.”
CCS can deliver climate benefits by capturing and permanently storing CO₂ from industrial processes where other decarbonisation options are limited. For Poland, the report finds, this could play an important role in cutting emissions while helping energy-intensive industries remain competitive.
Press Contact
Julia Kislitsyna, Communications Manager, Europe, [email protected], +49 151 16220453
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organisation working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalysing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 30 years of internationally recognised expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
