‘The task at hand for the industry and policy makers is now to support the continued development and deployment of CCS as an essential tool to mitigate climate change.’
Said to be a ‘world first’, Ineos and Wintershall Dea have led a consortium of 23 organisations to complete the safe injection of carbon dioxide into a depleted oil field in the Danish North Sea.
Known as Project Greensand, the partners say that the project has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of capturing carbon dioxide at the Ineos Oxide site in Belgium, transporting it across borders and permanently storing it in the Ineos-operated Nini field.
Stored at a depth of around 1.8 kilometres below the seabed, the partners say that the site will be closely monitored. By 2030 Project Greensand aims to store up to 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The European Commission has estimated that the European Union will need to store up to 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year if the bloc is to meet its climate goals.
Project Greensand is a consortium of 23 organisations which includes businesses, start-ups, academia, and government. The project is supported by the Danish government through the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program. The Danish government considers CCS a key technology in reaching its 2045 net-zero target.
Speaking as the project was officially launched, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of Ineos said: ‘It is the first time that carbon dioxide has been successfully captured, transported cross-border and safely stored offshore anywhere in the world [...] The task at hand for the industry and policy makers is now to support the continued development and deployment of CCS as an essential tool to mitigate climate change.’
Also speaking at the launch via video link, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen added, ‘We are making full use of our Single Market, which will lead to economies of scale, and further bring down costs. We are simplifying regulation to incentivise technologies, such as carbon removal and speed up permitting. We are supporting with investment from research and development, with Horizon Europe, to scaling cleantech, with the Innovation Fund. So far we have awarded over €2.8 billion for 24 industrial decarbonisation projects.’
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