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INEOS, Wintershall Dea launch

Greensand CCS project

EU EUROPEAN energy companies INEOS and of CO2 storage capacity by 2050 to fulfil its net-
Wintershall Dea began injecting CO2 under the zero emissions target.
It is the first European North Sea bed as part of Project Greensand on “There is, my friends, no chance in hell that
cross-border CCS March 8, with European Commission President we will meet the global climate targets without
project to come online. Ursula von der Leyen hailing the event as a mile- CO2 storage,” Denmark’s minister for climate,
stone in the EU’s green transition. energy and utilities, Lars Aagaard, added.
Project Greensand is Europe’s first cross-bor- The EU kicked off large-scale financing for
der carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative CCS last year, releasing €2.8bn ($3bn) to 24
to start operations. It involves the capture of CO2 industrial decarbonisation projects from its
at an INEOS Oxide site in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, Innovation Fund. Additional support for the
and its transport to the Nini field in the Danish sector is expected to be announced as part of the
North Sea for storage. It is stored at a depth of European Commission’s Net-Zero Industry Act.
around 1,800 metres below the seabed. The commission aims to publish a strategy on
The CO2 is being transported by the Aurora carbon capture, use and storage later this year.
Storm offshore supply vessel, which has been By 2025-26, Greensand’s capacity is expected
adapted to transport containers of liquid CO2. to reach 1.5mn tonnes per year of CO2. Under
At a later stage a specialised CO2 carrier will be a final expansion phase, due to begin in 2030,
used to handle greater volumes. capacity could rise to 8mn tonnes per year
“This is a big moment for Europe’s green – equivalent to over 13% of Denmark’s total
transition, and for our clean tech industry. The annual emissions.
first-ever fully value chain, for carbon capture Transport of CO2 from Belgium to Denmark
and storage in Europe. You are showing that it became possible after the two countries con-
can be done,” von der Leyen said at an open- cluded a bilateral agreement last year.
ing ceremony. “That we can grow our industry “If Project Greensand and other CCS pro-
through innovation and competition, and at the jects in the North Sea are to be successfully
same time, remove carbon emissions from the implemented, policymakers must establish the
atmosphere, through ingenuity and cooperation. appropriate regulatory framework,” Wintershall
This is what Europe’s competitive sustainability Dea said. “The first steps have been taken. Now
is all about.” we need more bilateral agreements to link emis-
The European Commission estimates that sions-intensive industries to CO2 storage sites in
the EU will need at least 300mn tonnes per year the North Sea.” ™

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