Royal visit from the Netherlands marks a milestone for CO2 storage in Denmark
INEOS Energy have signed an agreement to buy a state-of-the-art CO2 carrier. The agreement was signed during a royal visit by HM King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to Copenhagen.
Mads Weng Gade, Head of INEOS Energy Denmark, and Edwin de Vries, Managing Director of Royal Wagenborg, today signed an agreement for Ineos Energy to buy a new Easymax CO₂ carrier, designed to meet the highest standards of safety and efficiency, to facilitate large-scale transport of CO2 to be stored at the Project Greensand site in the Danish part of the North Sea.
The CO2 carrier will be delivered by Dutch maritime logistics company Royal Wagenborg.
As part of a royal visit by HM King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to Copenhagen, HM King Frederik of Denmark joined his counterpart and bestowed royal radiance on the occasion.
“The lack of dedicated CO₂ carriers has been a bottleneck for advancing CCS projects within Europe. The collaboration between INEOS and Royal Wagenborg serves as a breakthrough moment for the EU’s climate goals, offering a viable solution for large-scale CO₂ transport. The agreement highlights the commitment of INEOS, Royal Wagenborg, and the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark to achieving a sustainable and low-carbon future,” said David Bucknall, CEO INEOS Energy
The collaboration between INEOS and Royal Wagenborg serves as a breakthrough moment for the EU’s climate goals, offering a viable solution for large-scale CO₂ transport.
“INEOS has been in the leading edge of demonstrating safe and efficient storage in the pilot phase of Project Greensand, and we have the ambition to establish the first CO₂ storage within the EU in Greensand by 2026. The agreement between Royal Wagenborg and INEOS is a very important step towards the establishment of the full value chain of CCS on an industrial scale,” said Mads Weng Gade, Head of INEOS Energy DK
HM King Willem-Alexander is accompanied by a Dutch business delegation during the working visit to Denmark. The program for the visit is centered around strengthening the cooperation between The Netherlands and Denmark in the areas of hydrogen and energy systems of the future.
“Today was another important step in the direction of realising the enormous potential of Project Greensand and CO2 storage in the North Sea. If everything goes according to plan the CO2 storage capacity will be around 8 million tonnes per year by 2030. That’s almost one fifth of Denmark’s annual emissions. This will be a key part of reaching Denmark’s ambitious climate goals – and hopefully also of making Denmark a central European CO2-hub. It’s win-win all round, when climate action and good business go hand in hand,” said Anne H. Steffensen, CEO of Danish Shipping
About Project Greensand
Project Greensand, spearheaded by INEOS Energy, aims to establish Denmark’s first large-scale CO₂ storage facility in the Danish North Sea.
Project Greensand has already marked a world-first achievement by demonstrating the safe, cross-border transport of CO₂ for injection into a depleted oil field. In March 2023 HM King Frederik of Denmark authorized the first injection of CO₂ into Danish subsoil in the North Sea, marking a crucial advancement for sustainable carbon management in the region.
INEOS Energy, on behalf of its licence partners, is working diligently to commence CO₂ storage in the North Sea by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. The project aspires to store up to 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually in the initial phase, with plans to increase capacity to up to 8 million tonnes per year by 2030. With plans of future expansion, Project Greensand will contribute significantly to Denmark’s 2030 climate targets by addressing nearly 40% of the national CO₂ reduction goals.