First Carbon Storage | Project Greensand

Celebrating a world first

On March 8th 2023, Project Greensand initiated the world's first cross-border offshore CO2 storage intended to mitigate climate change.

This storage was officially celebrated at the exclusive First Carbon Storage event in Esbjerg, Denmark, in the presence of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Danish Minister for Energy-, Climate-, and Utilities Mr. Lars Aagaard - and with a pre-recorded address from President of the European Commission Ms. Ursula von der Leyen.

The invitation only event was attended by 300+ guests, including representatives from business, policy and industry organisations from across Europe.

First Carbon Storage was hosted by Project Greensand led by INEOS and Wintershall Dea.

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Watch the First Carbon Storage Symposium

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First Carbon Storage

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Demonstrating a full CCS value chain

With First Carbon Storage Project Greensand demonstrates, for the first time, the feasibility of cross-border, offshore CO2 storage across the full value chain - from capture to transport and storage. From when the CO2 is captured in Antwerp, transported by ship to Esbjerg, and finally stored in the depleted Nini West oil field in the North Sea, paving the way for the development of an international CCS value chain.

This marks the culmination of the project’s pilot phase. The Final Investment Decision (FID) for a full-scale project is planned for the first half of 2024.

In full scale, Project Greensand can store up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year in 2025/2026 and potentially up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year in 2030. In February 2023, leading consortium partners INEOS and Wintershall Dea received the necessary storage license from the Danish authorities.

Capture

There are many ways to capture CO2. The most efficient way is to capture from a large and stable supply of CO2. For example from large emissions in industry, energy production or incineration plants, where the CO2 is separated from the smoke. The captured CO2 is then transformed into liquid. This can be done by heating, compressing, and cooling.

Transport

The liquid CO2 is transported by ship to the Nini West Field located in the larger Siri subsoil storage area in the Danish part of the North Sea. In this pilot phase, the CO2 will be held safely in custom-built tank-containers during transport. Once Project Greensand is fully matured, the CO2 will be transported on transport vessels built specifically for this purpose.

Storage

Liquid CO2 is sent down into the Nini West sandstone reservoir approximately 1,800 metres underground via CO2 wells. The fields for CO2 storage in the subsoil have been screened over many years and new groundbreaking technologies are being developed for monitoring the CO2 storage.

Understand CCS

Part of the solution to the world's climate challenges lies deep underground. Here, CO2 from the large emitters can be stored in the same reservoirs of sandstone from which oil and gas have previously been extracted. The Danish subsoil is suitable for CO2 storage with its many reservoirs in the North Sea.

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About
Project Greensand

Project Greensand enables Denmark to use CO2 storage as part of the solutions to the climate challenges.

The consortium consists of 23 Danish and international partners who contribute with expertise from transportation, storage and monitoring of CO2 in the subsoil. The consortium's members include everything from Danish and international companies, research institutes, universities, and start-ups.

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