A consortium consisting of TotalEnergies, Mitsui and Nordsøfonden has been granted permission by the Danish Energy Agency to investigate the possibilities for storing CO2 in the Danish part of the North Sea. The permission covers the Inez area, which is located approximately 55 km west of Vorupør, and gives the consortium six years to investigate whether the subsoil is suitable for safe and environmentally sound storage.
The permission was granted after a tender round that also included the Lisa and Jammerbugt areas off the coast of North Jutland. According to the Energy Agency, no bids were submitted for the other two areas, which have therefore not been awarded.
- Denmark's subsoil is particularly suitable for safe and sound storage of CO2, and with the new permit, there are now eight areas in Denmark where work is being done to – potentially – establish specific storage projects. Better access to storage in different parts of Denmark provides better conditions for realizing CO2 capture and thus contributing with real reductions for the benefit of the climate, says Peter Christian Baggesgaard Hansen, Deputy Director General of the Danish Energy Agency.
The license area covers approximately 1,050 km² and includes a saltwater aquifer in a sandstone formation about 1,800 meters below the seabed, where the potential for storage in the coming years must be clarified through technical studies.
Joy at TotalEnergies
For TotalEnergies, the award means that the company now has three exploration permits for CO2 storage in the Danish part of the North Sea. The company will be the operator of the Inez license with an ownership interest of 65 percent, while Mitsui and Nordsøfonden own 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
- We are pleased to have been awarded a new CCS license in Denmark. This is an important step in our ambition to develop Denmark's potential as a European hub for CO2 storage. With this license, we can build on our existing activities and make a concrete contribution to realizing one of the essential climate solutions available to society, says Martin Rune Pedersen, CEO of TotalEnergies Denmark.
With the Inez license, a total of eight licenses have now been granted for exploration of CO2 storage in Denmark, divided into four at sea and four on land. An exploration permit only involves investigations of the subsoil and is not an approval of an actual storage project.
The Greensand Future project, in turn, received a final storage permit from the Danish Energy Agency in December. The project will thus become Denmark's first full-scale CO2 storage facility. It is located in the Nini West field in the North Sea and is operated by Ineos.
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