Danish Energy Agency awards CCS licenses

The Danish Energy Agency has awarded two onshore exploration licenses for CO₂ storage in Denmark. 

Wintershall Dea (40%) with partners INEOS (40%) and Nordsøfonden (20%) were awarded a license in the Gassum formation in Jutland, Denmark. The partners, with Wintershall as operator, will study the formation for potential storage of Danish and European CO_2. Given all required approvals by the authorities, the partnership foresees first injection in 2029. Storage capacity is initially estimated to up to 250 million tonnes of CO₂ in two separate geological formations 2,000-3,000 m below surface.

Equinor (60%), along with partners Ørsted (20%) and Nordsøfonden (20%), were awarded the CO₂ Storage Kalundborg project in the North West Zealand with a reservoir about 1,400 m below ground and a potential capacity to store up to 12 million tonnes/year of CO₂. With Equinor as operator, the partners study CO₂ storage potential. If the partnership develops the permit into a CO₂ storage facility approved by Danish authorities, it could start storage of CO₂ at the end of this decade, Equinor said.

According to analysis by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), there is capacity to store 12-22 billion tonnes of CO₂ in the Danish subsurface, equivalent to 400-700 times Denmark's annual CO₂ emissions.