His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark officially initiated a world first with the safe injection of carbon dioxide from Belgium into a depleted oil field in the Danish North Sea.

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 March 8, and hosted by INEOS and Wintershall Dea, lead partners in the Project Greensand consortium.

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 organizations 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, 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 meters below the seabed and will be closely monitored.

Hugo Dijkgraaf says, “Project Greensand proves that Carbon Capture and Storage is a viable way to permanently store CO2 emissions under the North Sea. It has a crucial role to play in reaching net zero in Denmark, Europe and beyond. INEOS and Wintershall Dea are leveraging two decades of experience from oil production in the Nini West field and have extensive knowledge of the reservoirs being used.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe adds, “This is a breakthrough for Carbon Capture and Storage. It is the first time that carbon dioxide has been successfully captured, transported cross-border and safely stored offshore anywhere in the world. This important milestone firmly demonstrates that CCS is a technology that can deliver on a global scale. The task at hand for the industry and policymakers is now to support the continued development and deployment of CCS as an essential tool to mitigate climate change.”

About Project Greensand

• The primary objective of Project Greensand is to store CO2 safely and permanently, potentially up to 8m tons of CO2 per annum from 2030 in the INEOS operated Siri area.
• The storage potential will contribute significantly to Denmark’s 2030 overall emissions reduction target.
• Project Greensand is supported by the Danish state through the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program – EUDP.
• September 29 2022 , Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgian Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the North Sea, Flemish Minister for The Environment and Energy Zuhal Demir and the former Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Energy Supply in Denmark, Mr. Dan Jørgensen, entered into a ground-breaking agreement to enable captured CO2 to be shipped across borders and stored geologically – thus paving the way for Project Greensand to initiate First Carbon Storage.
• December 6 2022, The Danish Energy Agency granted Project Greensand permission to store CO2 in the Danish subsoil as part of the pilot-phase.
• February 6 2023 INEOS and Wintershall Dea received the first full-scale CO2 storage permit in the Danish North Sea issued by the Danish Ministry of Climate,- Energy,- and Utilities.
• The FID for a full-scale project will commence after proof of concept, planned FID in first half of 2024, and will have an estimated delivery duration of around 24 months after which carbon storage could be operational from around 2025.

Learn more about Project Greensand here