A world-leading CO2 storage facility

Documented safe and effective CO2 storage in the North Sea

CO2 storage now and for the future

The world is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. It’s a shift that demands fundamental changes in how we produce and use energy. The European Commission has estimated that the European Union will need to establish a carbon storage capacity of 250 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2040 to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. CCS is also considered a key technology in reaching the Danish 2045 net-zero targets.

Being able to capture enough CO2 to make CCS scalable will require substantial investments in capture technologies at large emission sources. However, capture technologies are currently not mature enough to sustain a commercially competitive value chain at scale. But that doesn’t mean that CO2 can’t – or shouldn’t - be captured and stored today.

Based on its groundbreaking pilot, the INEOS-led Project Greensand in December 2024 made a Final Investment Decision (FID) into the first commercial phase Greensand Future with storage operations set to begin at the end of 2025/early 2026. This decision paves the way for expected investments of more than $150 million across the Greensand CCS value chain to scale storage capacity.

Greensand has entered commercial agreements throughout the entire supply chain from CO2 emitters, to logistics, storage and shipping, backed by the funding necessary to make final injection and permanent storage a reality for Denmark and Europe. 

Establishing a full CCS value chain, Greensand Future demonstrates to Danish and European emitters and industry leaders that large-scale capture projects are achievable. This could enable them to make the investment decisions needed to implement the kind of large-scale capture solutions that can help Denmark and the EU meet their climate targets.

While capture technology matures, significant amounts of biogenic CO2 from biogas plants can already be stored. In Europe, it is estimated that biogas plants annually emit 21 million tonnes of biogenic CO2, which could be advantageously stored (Concito).

Greensand Future offers an effective solution to help remove these emissions, aiming to safely and permanently store 400.000 tonnes of CO2 per year with an outlook to store 8.000.000 tonnes of CO2 biogenic and fossil per year as volumes of CO2 for storage increase.

Verified safe, permanent storage

Greensand provides safe and permanent CO2 storage in a suited geological reservoir, building on more than two years of research and tests in collaboration with authorities and industry leaders.

The integrity of the Greensand Nini reservoir in the North Sea has been tested by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and Greensand has received safety approval from the world-leading independent verifier DNV.

Tests firmly demonstrate that the Greensand storage facilities in the North Sea (the Siri fairway) are extremely stable reservoirs from a geological perspective. They have retained gas and oil for more than 10 million years, making them a very safe permanent storage site for CO2.

Proven efficacy in GHG avoidance

Greensand delivers effective CO2 storage with approx. 94% greenhouse gas avoidance, meaning most emissions are captured and stored, while 6% comes from operating the value chain.

This figure is based on a detailed Life Cycle Assessment using conservative energy estimates for liquefaction, transport, and storage.

As new technologies emerge, we expect to further reduce the carbon footprint of operations, enhancing the project’s effectiveness in mitigating climate change.

Storing CO2 in the North Sea

Greensand provides safe and effective CO2 storage in a suited geological reservoir 1,800 meters below the seabed, some 200 off the Danish west coast.

In the first commercial phase, Greensand Future, CO2 will come from Danish biomethane production. The CO2 will be liquefied, transported to harbour sites, sailed to the reservoir site in the North Sea, and injected into the subsoil using existing site infrastructure. Click the link below to learn more about how CCS storage works.

We are currently working with Port Esbjerg along with many other actors in the CCS value chain including biogas producers. We are continuously exploring new partnership opportunities which can help strengthen the CCS value chain - from capture, transport and storage.

How does CCS work?

Project timeline

Momentum around CCS is growing globally. With storage operations set to get underway at the end of 2025/early 2026, Greensand is expected to become the first CO2 storage in the EU intended to mitigate climate change.

In its first phase commercial phase, Greensand Future, Greensand aims to offer storage of 400.000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 per year - large volumes of which are readily available. Scaling operations in the coming years will see both biogenic and fossil CO2 stored with an ambition to reach full capacity of 8 mtpa stored by 2030. This corresponds to approx. a third of Denmark's emissions in 2030 (DEA).

Demonstrating the first full value chain for CO₂ storage

The Greensand pilot was the first in the world to capture CO2, transport it across a border and safely store it in an underground reservoir.

Commercial development

Securing partners and FID to initiate industrial operation

Commercial phase - Greensand Future

Storing up to 0.4 mtpa of captured biogenic CO2 from biomethane production

Scaling operations

Building and strengthening the CCS value chain to drive up storage volumes

Full capacity – biogenic and fossil CO₂

Storing up to 8 mtpa biogenic or fossil CO2

Demonstrating the first full value chain for CO₂ storage

The Greensand pilot was the first in the world to capture CO2, transport it across a border and safely store it in an underground reservoir.

Commercial development

Securing partners and FID to initiate industrial operation

Commercial phase - Greensand Future

Storing up to 0.4 mtpa of captured biogenic CO2 from biomethane production

Scaling operations

Building and strengthening the CCS value chain to drive up storage volumes

Full capacity – biogenic and fossil CO₂

Storing up to 8 mtpa biogenic or fossil CO2

A big moment for Europe’s green transition

In 2023, Greensand completed its pilot project, demonstrating for the first time the feasibility of cross-border, offshore CO2 storage across the full value chain - from capture to transport and storage. Learn more about the Greensand pilot here.

The storage was officially celebrated on March 8th 2023 at the exclusive First Carbon Storage event in Esbjerg, Denmark. 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 [...] This is what Europe’s competitive sustainability is all about.

FAQ

Greensand is a world-leading CO2 storage facility located in the Danish North Sea. Following its successful pilot, which was supported by the Danish state through the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP), Greensand is now entering its industrial phase to scale operations. The companies behind Greensand - the current storage license holders (IRIS) - are INEOS Energy Denmark, Wintershall Dea and the Danish State Subsurface Resource Company Nordsøfonden. 

Greensand offers CO2 storage as a service for companies that want to help accelerate the development of a crucial climate technology and support their own decarbonisation journey by carbon removal credits. We are also offering actors along the CCS value chain (for example emitters, transporters and ports) the opportunity to partner with us and help scale the project as volumes of captured CO2 increases.

Greensand provides safe and effective CO2 storage in a suited geological reservoir 1,800 meters below the seabed some 200 off the Danish west coast. The Greensand storage facilities in the North Sea (the Siri fairway) are extremely stable reservoirs from a geological perspective. They have retained gas and oil for more than 10 million years, making them a very safe permanent storage site for CO2. The integrity of the reservoir has been tested by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and Greensand has received safety approval from DNV-GL. 

Moving into industrial operation we are now waiting for final storage approval from the Danish authorities.

In its first phase, Greensand aims to offer storage of 0.4 million tonnes of biogenic from biogas production – large volumes of which are readily available. In later phases, the CO2 will come from both biogenic and fossil sources. 

The companies behind Greensand - the current storage license holders (IRIS) - are INEOS Energy Denmark, Wintershall Dea and the Danish State Subsurface Resource Company Nordsøfonden. Greensand works with several partners to ensure residual CO2 can be captured, transported to harbour sites, and sailed to the North Sea for permanent storage. 

This is based on a review of current and future CCS projects around the world based on the Global CCS Institute’s annual status report. Read the review in this factsheet. 

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