Denmark breaks ground on major carbon storage terminal

Oslo, May 5 (IANS) A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday for a new carbon dioxide (CO2) transit terminal at Port Esbjerg in western Denmark, marking a significant step toward the nation's goal to advance carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The terminal is part of the Denmark-based Greensand Future project, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions by CCS. Once completed later this year, the Esbjerg terminal will serve as a major infrastructure hub for the transport and storage of liquefied CO2 and is expected to help achieve Denmark's national climate targets and contribute to the development of CCS capacity in the region.

"This is a key milestone for the Greensand project and an important step in building a complete CCS value chain. Carbon capture and storage will be critical to achieving climate targets," said Mads Gade, CEO of the project operator INEOS Energy Europe, at the construction site.

The terminal is designed to house six large tanks, each capable of storing around 1,000 tonnes of liquefied CO2. The CO2 will be collected from Danish biogas plants and transported by truck to the Esbjerg terminal for temporary storage.

Once the tanks are full, the liquefied CO2 will be loaded onto a vessel and transported to the INEOS Nini platform in the Danish North Sea. From there, it will be injected into geological formations located around 1,800 meters below the seabed for long-term storage, Xinhua news agency reported.

The project entered its commercial phase in December 2024, when INEOS and its partners made a final investment decision. Total investment is expected to exceed 1 billion Danish kroner (150 million US dollars).

According to the European Commission, storing 250 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2040 will be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement targets. CCS is also considered vital for Denmark to reach its 2045 net-zero emissions goals.

Experts say Denmark's geological conditions in the North Sea are especially well-suited for CO2 storage. If the country captures 5 percent of the European CCS market, it could create up to 9,000 jobs and generate revenues of 50 billion Danish kroner.

--IANS

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