THE CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE ASSOCIATION

Their core work

The CCSA is a UK-based industry association that represents companies and organizations involved in carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS). In H2020, they served as the coordinating body for the Zero Emission Platform (ZEP), Europe's main advisory group on CCS/CCUS deployment. Their role is to mobilize industry input into EU energy and climate policy, coordinate implementation plans under the SET Plan, and bridge the gap between CCUS technology developers and policymakers. They are a policy coordination and advocacy body, not a research performer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early work (2016–2018) centred on supporting the Zero Emission Platform with a focus on CCS in the power sector and zero-emission fossil fuel plants. By 2019, the scope visibly broadened: IMPACTS9 introduced explicit CCUS language (adding 'utilisation'), expanded into energy-intensive industry, and tied directly into the SET Plan implementation cycle. This shift mirrors the wider European policy pivot from CCS-for-power toward CCUS-for-industry.

Moving from pure CCS advocacy toward broader industrial decarbonisation through CCUS, aligned with Europe's growing focus on hard-to-abate sectors.

How they like to work

They coordinate exclusively — all three projects are coordinator-led Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs), with small consortia of around 2–3 partners each. With only 6 unique partners across all projects, they operate as a tight hub connecting a select group of CCUS-focused organizations rather than building large research consortia. This reflects their role as a convening body: they bring people together rather than performing technical research.

A compact network of 6 partners across 3 countries, suggesting close ties to a small circle of CCUS-focused organizations likely including ZEP members and industry associations. The network is narrow but purpose-built for policy coordination.

What sets them apart

The CCSA occupies a unique niche as the industry voice for carbon capture in Europe, serving as the operational backbone of the Zero Emission Platform. Unlike research institutes or technology companies, they offer policy access, industry network mobilisation, and strategic coordination for CCUS deployment. For anyone building a CCUS consortium, they bring legitimacy, industry buy-in, and direct connections to the European CCUS policy landscape.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SSFZEP
  Largest project (EUR 998K) — provided multi-year secretariat support for the Zero Emission Platform, covering both power and industrial CCUS.
• IMPACTS9
  Directly shaped the SET Plan implementation roadmap for CCUS technologies, linking policy ambition to concrete action plans.