Wintershall Dea and INEOS initiate first CO2 storage in Danish North Sea

Denmark took a global lead in carbon capture and storage (CCS) on Wednesday with Wintershall Dea and INEOS initiating the first CO2 storage in the Danish North Sea as part of Project Greensand.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark officially initiated a world first on Wednesday with the safe injection of carbon dioxide from Belgium into a depleted oil field in the Danish North Sea, INEOS and Wintershall Dea – lead partners in the Project Greensand consortium – said in separate statements.

Project Greensand, shows for the first time the feasibility of CO2 storage from being captured at an INEOS Oxide site in Belgium, to being transported cross-border and finally safely and permanently stored in the INEOS-operated Nini field in the Danish North Sea.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “This is a big moment for Europe’s green transition, and for our clean tech industry. The first ever full value chain, for carbon capture and storage in Europe. You are showing that it can be done. That we can grow our industry through innovation and competition, and at the same time, remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere, through ingenuity and cooperation. This is what Europe’s competitive sustainability is all about.”

The First Carbon Storage event to celebrate the achievement was held in Esbjerg, Denmark on Wednesday and hosted by INEOS and Wintershall Dea.

“Project Greensand marks a leap forward for the development of a Europe-wide CCS infrastructure and therefore for climate protection. We are showing that it is possible to capture, transport, and store CO2 safely and reliably across national borders and the CCS technology will be able to contribute to a decarbonised tomorrow in the near future. Along with our partners, we are pioneers in this game-changing technology,” said Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea.

By 2030, Project Greensand aims to store up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year in this area while continuing to make significant contributions to our understanding and growth of carbon storage technology.

The European Commission estimates that the EU will need to store up to 300 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2050 to meet its climate goals.

Project Greensand is a consortium of 23 organisations with expertise in Carbon Capture and Storage, including business, academia, government and start-ups. It is supported by the Danish state through the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP). CCS is considered a key technology in reaching the Danish 2045 net zero target.

Lars Aagaard, Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities said, “The Danish subsoil can store a lot more carbon than we ever will capture in Denmark. Therefore, I am extremely pleased that the whole perspective on the Danish subsoil from day one is based on an industrial thinking where these resources should be brought to the market and help other countries meet their climate target on a commercial basis.”

The CO2 injected into the Nini field is stored at a depth of about 1,800 metres below the seabed and will be closely monitored.