The lesson from Riviera’s CO2 Shipping, Terminals and CCS Conference in Milan was clear. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the Mediterranean is no longer an experiment. It is a market in the making. Ships, standards and regulatory support will decide who takes the lead and who is left behind.

Delegates at the conference, held in association with class society DNV, heard that the sector now has policy momentum, industrial demand and proven technology. The atmosphere at the magnificent Melia Milano made it clear that the race is on, and those present left Milan with insights and contacts that will help them turn challenges into opportunities.

For businesses, the message was crystal clear: move early, partner broadly and secure financing. Early movers can win EU grants and set the standards that others must follow.

Operators argued that collaboration, rather than rivalry, offers the best path forward. With capacity scarce, only joint effort will allow projects to scale. What some see as a barrier in financing is also a chance for innovation. Contracts for difference can bridge the gap between carbon prices of around €75 (US$88) a tonne and project costs of €150 to €200. Offtake guarantees and public procurement of low‑carbon products add further routes forward.

The numbers underline the sense of urgency. Two projects, Ravenna in Italy and Prinos in Greece, are expected to be operational before 2030. Ravenna should provide 500M tonnes of storage, yet demand has already outstripped its annual capacity by almost double. Prinos adds just 66M. This imbalance creates both a risk and an opening. Rapid expansion and cross‑border co-operation with North Africa offer the chance to meet soaring demand and lock in first‑mover advantages.

Transport remains a defining feature of the Mediterranean model. While northern Europe will rely on pipelines, the south will rely on ships. By 2030, 80% of CO2 here must move by sea, demanding close to 40 specialised vessels. An estimated US$8Bn of investment is expected to flow into CCS in the next five years. If channelled into shipping infrastructure, the fleet will materialise, creating a new maritime market.

Technical discussions added flavour in Milan. One central debate was whether to transport CO2 at low or medium pressure. Advocates of higher pressure pointed to efficiency gains and their ability to tolerate impurities. Yet impurities themselves remain the real issue. Without shared specifications, every shipment looks different, pushing up costs. Here lies opportunity too. Greece’s Apollo CO2 project demonstrates how innovation can help. By linking a 230‑km pipeline to a floating liquefaction terminal at Revithoussa, it reuses LNG infrastructure, saving costs and making aggregation easier.

Policy will provide the final piece. Brussels is preparing its CO2 transport package for 2025. The Net Zero Industry Act requires 50M tonnes of storage capacity a year by 2030. The ETS is driving investment with a rising carbon price. Italy’s regulated asset base model and Greece’s tailored framework around Prinos show that governments are acting. If EU restrictions on exports to North Africa are lifted, an important pressure valve will be released, and new capacity will come into play.

The message from Milan was unmistakable: the Mediterranean CCS sector is at the start of something substantial. Those that treat today’s obstacles as tomorrow’s openings will be the ones who turn this momentum into lasting market leadership.

Riviera’s global CO2 Shipping & Terminals Conferences, together with its well‑regarded Webinar Week, provide year‑round coverage of the sector.