Expansion of CCS activities in Denmark
- Development of a CCS value chain in Denmark is progressing
- Wintershall Dea and other partners agree to cooperate on a CO2 hub at the northern tip of Denmark
- “Greenport Scandinavia” consortium will benefit from synergy effects with other CCS projects
Wintershall Dea is expanding its activities related to the long-term and safe underground storage of CO2 offshore in Denmark. Today, on Thursday, 1 December 2022, the company has joined other companies in signing an agreement to jointly mature and pursue the “Greenport Scandinavia” project. This consortium of companies intends to establish a CO2 hub near Hirtshals on the Danish North Sea coast. Among other things, the hub is to be connected to the value chain of the CCS Project Greensand, in which Wintershall Dea is a key player.
“Wintershall Dea is already an important partner for the CO2-transport infrastructure and underground storage of CO2 in the North Sea,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Board Member and Chief Technology Officer at Wintershall Dea, at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). “By participating in Greenport Scandinavia, we are showing that we are driving decarbonisation forward. We are entering into selected partnerships like this one as well as applying for CCS licences.”
Steen Harding Hintze, CEO of Greenport North, added: “In Wintershall Dea, we have gained an experienced partner and are confident that we will be able to leverage key synergies as a result of this collaboration. CCS is a key component of Denmark’s decarbonisation strategy, so rapidly developing the CO2 hub is of great importance to us.”
Greenport Scandinavia is meant to serve as a collection point for CO2 generated during the production of biogas in regional plants. It will then be transported by ship to the Project Greensand to be permanently and safely stored in a depleted oil reservoir. Approximately 1.5 million tonnes of CO2, some of which will come from countries on the Baltic Sea, are to be sequestered each year in this way. Using biogas will result in negative emissions, which can make a significant contribution to achieving Denmark’s climate policy goals.
By participating in the Greenport Scandinavia project, Wintershall Dea is now involved in an additional CCS activity on the Danish market. Project Greensand aims to inject first test quantities of CO2 at the beginning of 2023. Starting in 2030, the annual storage potential is expected to range between four and eight million tonnes of CO2.
Greenport Scandinavia and the Project Greensand will represent two important cornerstones for the transport and storage of CO2 emissions in Northern Europe. The experience gained here will go hand in hand with the development of the CO2 hub in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. There, Wintershall Dea and other partners plan to collaborate on the CO2nnectNow project, which will be a collection point for CO2 emissions on the German North Sea coast. Each year, more than ten million tonnes of CO2 are to be transported from there to offshore storage sites in the North Sea.
More information on the projects can be found under the following links: Project Greensand: Offshore CCS Planned by 2025 | Wintershall Dea AG and Wintershall Dea and HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal intend to jointly develop a CO2 Hub in Wilhelmshaven | Wintershall Dea AG
About Wintershall Dea
Wintershall Dea is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 12 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. More in our Annual Report.
As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. Wintershall Dea will also bring its methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025 and maintain zero routine flaring of associated gas in its operations. In addition, we plan to reduce emissions resulting from the use of hydrocarbons by applying CCS and low-carbon hydrogen technologies, potentially building up a business abating 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per annum by 2040. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.
Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,500 people worldwide from almost 60 nations.
