China boasts 70-90% carbon capture storage cost edge as Europe faces soaring capture prices

Published on : 08 Oct 2025, 12:16 pm

The global power sector faces a stark divide in carbon capture economics, with Chinese developers claiming dramatic cost advantages while European utilities confront prohibitive expenses that render most projects uneconomic, according to Wood Mackenzie, a global insight business for renewables, energy and natural resources.

European power generators face carbon capture costs upwards of US$300 per tonne that render most projects uneconomic, according to Wood Mackenzie’s new CCUS and Global Power Generation analysis. Meanwhile, China claims to build equivalent facilities with CCUS costs of roughly $30-40/tCO2, creating a significant viability gap for the technology across the two regions.

The comprehensive assessment reveals that despite the power