Denmark’s first offshore CO2 storage site certified

The first CO2 storage site for the Greensand carbon capture and storage project in Denmark has been certified by DNV.

The certification, a ‘certificate of conformity – site endorsement and storage site’, is confirmation that the project operator has developed plans for the safe and effective storage of CO2 in compliance with the geological storage standard ISO 27914.

Such certification should give confidence to the integrity of the project and enable its ongoing advancement.

“We now have independent evidence, backed by DNV’s certification, that our site can safely and permanently store large volumes of CO2 that would otherwise have been emitted into the atmosphere in the North Sea subsoil,” said Mads Gade, head of INEOS Energy Denmark, the lead partner behind Project Greensand.

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“That confidence gives us a solid foundation to take the next steps, which will be crucial for carbon capture and storage in Denmark. The thorough and independent assessment process by DNV is an efficient way to enhance the approval process with the authorities.”

Project Greensand, led by a consortium of 23 partners, is declared as the world’s first cross-border offshore CO2 storage with capture in Antwerp, transport by ship to Esbjerg and final storage 1,800m below the seabed in the depleted Nini West oil field in the North Sea.

In full scale, Project Greensand is expected to store up to 400,000t of CO2 per year in 2025-2026 and potentially up to 4Mt of CO2 per year by 2030.

The project’s pilot phase has demonstrated the validity of the value chain, with DNV having been involved from the start.

“The successful completion of the pilot phase highlights the importance of thorough technical verification and stringent safety standards in building confidence and enabling long-term CO2 storage,” commented Mick Cramer Jakobsen, DNV vice president and head of Customer Relations in the region.

“We look forward to continuing our involvement with the project, which sets a global example for safe and effective CCS.”