Denmark opens first storage facility for CO2, including imported from other countries
Denmark is ready to inject liquefied CO2 from other countries
A special storage facility for industrial carbon dioxide was officially opened on March 8 in Danish territorial waters in the North Sea. The Greensand project, named after the color of the green bottom sands in this sector, is one of the stages of Denmark's plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. Geological injection of carbon dioxide is considered a necessary tool to curb global warming.
Source. RFI
Greensand facilities are located 220 km off the coast of Denmark. Gas is pumped at a depth of 1800 meters under the North Sea, at the site of a former oil field. It is expected that Greensand will allow Denmark to inject up to 8 million tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, which is equivalent to 1.5% of France's emissions.
According to Geo, the Greensand project is being piloted by British chemical giant Ineos and German energy company Wintershall Dea.
The Danish state controls a 20% stake in the project. Unlike other carbon dioxide capture and storage projects in the world today, which capture CO2 from neighboring industrial facilities, Greensand in Denmark is designed to store imported carbon.
Initially, the Greensand complex will receive CO2 from Belgium. It is delivered by sea to the Nini West platform in liquefied form.
The Minister of Climate and Environment explained to AFP that since Denmark's subsoil contains much more storage potential than its own emissions, the country can store carbon from other countries.
In a speech on the occasion of the opening of the Greensand project in Denmark, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the importance of the "turning point" when carbon dioxide is being injected into mines that previously produced oil, the fossil fuel that caused climate warming.
"This is an important moment for Europe's transition to green, clean industrial technologies," said Ursula von der Leyen, "This is Europe's first full carbon capture and storage cycle."
Another carbon dioxide storage project is being prepared in Danish state waters in cooperation with France's TotalEnergies. In February of this year, the company received two licenses from the Danish government for the disposal of CO2 in the North Sea. The oil and gas giant is currently the operator of the Harald gas fields, 250 km off the west coast of Denmark. The licenses cover an area of over 2000 km² for the project called Bifrost.
It is believed that the Greensand and Bifrost projects will collectively capture and inject up to 13 million tons of CO2 into storage tanks daily.
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