CO2 storage in Denmark has entered a new phase with the opening of Greensand Future, the first commercial-scale integrated system in Europe designed to capture, transport and permanently store carbon dioxide offshore. The project was inaugurated on 18 September in Esbjerg and will initially store up to 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year beneath the Danish North Sea.
The system is operated by INEOS Energy together with Harbour Energy and the Danish North Sea Fund (Nordsøfonden). It builds on years of testing and is intended to turn carbon capture and storage, known as CCS, from a demonstration technology into an operating industrial chain.
CO2 storage in Denmark moves beyond the pilot stage
From the port of Esbjerg, the purpose-built vessel Carbon Destroyer 1 will transport liquefied CO₂ to the depleted Nini West oil field, around 250 kilometres offshore.
The carbon dioxide will then be injected around 1,800 metres below the seabed for permanent storage. INEOS says Greensand can handle up to 400,000 tonnes annually during its first commercial phase.
The project follows an earlier demonstration at the same site. In 2023, Greensand carried out the first cross-border injection of CO₂ into the Danish North Sea, testing whether captured carbon could be transported and stored through the entire chain.
The new facility is different because it is designed for continuous commercial operation. The European Commission’s climate agency CINEA describes it as Europe’s first commercial-scale, fully integrated value chain for the capture, transport and permanent offshore storage of CO₂.
The first carbon will mainly come from biogas plants
Initially, most of the CO₂ will be captured from Danish biomethane plants, rather than from fossil-fuel-based industrial production.
According to INEOS, this is mainly because sufficient carbon-capture capacity has not yet been installed at Danish factories. Biomethane facilities can therefore provide the volumes needed to operate the storage chain while larger industrial capture projects are developed.
This distinction matters because Greensand’s longer-term purpose extends beyond the first 400,000 tonnes. INEOS estimates that the site could eventually store between 4 and 8
