As part of its updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), Greece has introduced an ambitious plan to scale up Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This technology traps CO₂ from factories and other sources before it enters the atmosphere and locks it deep underground. It’s especially important in industries like cement and oil refining - where emissions are hard to avoid even with clean energy. This analysis is part of a broader effort by COREu partner BELLONA to assess how different EU countries plan to reach climate neutrality.

Greece’s climate roadmap includes:

• Capturing 3.3 million tonnes of CO₂ per year by 2030, increasing to 8.4 million by 2050.
• Applying CCS to cement factories and refineries, especially those producing grey hydrogen.
• Three major projects—IRIS, IFESTOS and OLYMPUS—starting operations between 2028 and 2030, all supported by EU Innovation Fund grants.
• A future role for Direct Air Capture (DAC) starting in 2045 to remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere.

The Prinos offshore site will serve as Greece’s first CO₂ storage hub, with operations starting in 2026 and expanding to 3–4 Mt annually by 2029.

Greece isn’t acting alone. The country:

• Is developing pipeline and shipping infrastructure to move CO₂ from factories to Prinos.
• Has signed partnerships with Egypt, Cyprus, and Norway to explore cross-border carbon storage.
• Is calling for EU-level regulatory reforms to simplify CO₂ transport between countries.

This positions Greece not only as a CCS adopter, but as a regional carbon storage hub, with potential to serve neighbouring countries like Italy.

Bellona’s analysis of the Greek NECP and related documents found that:

• Greece is building a new regulatory framework for CCS, as part of its Recovery and Resilience Plan.
• A unique model will allocate half of CO₂ storage capacity to public access, with the other half reserved by the state.
• The government is exploring financial tools similar to Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) to attract long-term investment. Still, the exact level of national funding remains uncertain, and plans for hard-to-abate sectors like waste or fertilisers are not yet detailed.

CCS isn’t a cure-all. But for certain industries, it’s one of the only short-term options to cut emissions significantly. Greece is taking concrete steps to lead in this space, with real projects, strong EU support, and a growing network of partnerships. This assessment is part of Bellona’s NECP monitoring series, which contributes to our larger task within the COREu project: analysing and guiding the development of effective CCS policies across Europe.

You can read the full analysis here.