In June 2023, the French government released a draft CCUS strategy for consultation with industry.
In its strategy, the government outlines carbon capture targets for France that include:
- 4 to 8.5 million tons of CO2 captured a year by 2030
- 15 to 20 million tons of CO2 captured a year by 2050
- an extra 10 million tons of CO2 captured a year in non-industrial sectors around 2050.
The strategy is built on the principle that CCUS should not be used to maintain a “business as usual” approach but to be used to manage residual emissions in the absence of other solutions for decarbonisation or as a transition solution.
Actions in the draft strategy include:
- carrying out an assessment of the potential of storage by the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024
- launching a call for tenders for seismic surveys and test injections of CO2 in pilot sites, with initial tests starting in 2024-2025
- launching a support scheme via contracts for difference (CCFD) to support industry decarbonisation projects, in particular in the service of carbon capture and sequestration.
