INEOS Energy-led Greensand has begun commercial operations at what the project partners describe as the EU’s first full-scale facility for permanent carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage.
His Majesty King Frederik X of Denmark opened the site at a ceremony at the Port of Esbjerg.
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The project is being developed with Harbour Energy and the Danish North Sea Fund.
European and Danish officials including European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen and Danish Finance Minister Peter Hummelgaard attended the event.
The Greensand CO₂ storage facility will initially source CO₂ mainly from Danish biomethane plants. The gas will be liquefied and transported by lorry to a dedicated terminal at the Port of Esbjerg.
It will then be shipped on Carbon Destroyer 1, described by the project partners as the EU’s first purpose-built CO₂ carrier, before being injected into the Nini West reservoir.
The reservoir is a depleted oilfield approximately 250km offshore and around 1,800m beneath the seabed.
The site can store up to 400,000 tonnes per annum of CO₂ during its first commercial phase. Its planned capacity could eventually reach four to eight million tonnes per annum (mtpa) as demand grows.
INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe said: “Europe will not achieve net zero by closing factories and exporting its jobs. We need solutions that allow industry to remain competitive while reducing emissions.
“Greensand proves it can be done. This is not a pilot project, a concept or a political ambition. It is a fully operational carbon storage business. The technology works.
“The storage is ready. The challenge now is creating the right conditions for carbon capture to grow quickly at scale across Europe.”
INEOS Energy CEO David Bucknall said: “For years, CCS [carbon capture and storage] in Europe has been defined by plans, targets and ambitions. Today, Greensand brings the EU’s first full-scale CO₂ storage site and value chain into operation.
“It provides a foundation on which future carbon capture projects across Europe can now build.”
The opening comes as the EU seeks to reach CO₂ capture and storage capacity of 50mtpa by 2030 and 250–280mtpa by 2040. Europe remains far from those levels.
The announcement also highlighted the role of energy-intensive industries, which employ almost eight million people in Europe and generate around $631.04bn (€550bn) in annual value added.
These sectors include cement, steel and chemicals, and face rising costs and international competition.
In May this year, INEOS Energy signed an agreement with Shell Offshore, a subsidiary of Shell, to co-invest in oil and gas exploration and development near the Appomattox platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
