Denmark awards first full-scale CO2 storage permits

The licenses are an important step towards realizing Denmark’s CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) strategy and will kick-start the plan for the development of full-scale CO2 storage in Denmark.

The Danish Energy Agency received two applications in the first round of licenses for CO2 storage in the Danish North Sea. The two applications came from TotalEnergies EP Danmark A/S and a consortium consisting of INEOS E&P and Wintershall Dea International.

The two applications met the requirements, and two licenses were granted to TotalEnergies and one to the INEOS & Wintershall consortium

Granting the first exclusive permits for full-scale CO2 storage in the North Sea is an important step into the future. CO2 capture and storage is an important element in the green transition

said Kristoffer Böttzauw, DEA’s director.

The granting of exclusive licenses for exploration and full-scale CO2 storage in the Danish North Sea is an important step towards the implementation of the national agreements on the CCS strategy in order to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050.

Similarly, the licenses pave the way forward for Denmark as an important puzzle piece in realizing the growing demand for CO2 storage capacity in Northern Europe.

The licenses cover areas in depleted oil and gas fields and previously unexplored saline aquifers. All the licenses contain the necessary geological structures that are suited to serve as permanent CO2 storage locations in the future.

The specific storage projects must be approved by the DEA before establishment. The captured CO2 will likely be transported either via specially designed ships or through existing or new pipeline infrastructure.

Finally, the CO2 will be stored in depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers 1-2 km below the seabed, by pumping the CO2 into small pockets in sandstone or limestone layers and thus buried under thick layers of impermeable claystone.