Wintershall Dea awarded first onshore CCS licence in Denmark
- Wintershall Dea awarded operatorship in the first onshore CCS licence round in Denmark
- Denmark is taking a lead position in establishing a carbon capture and storage industry in Europe
- Wintershall Dea and its partners will develop the project in close dialogue with local and national stakeholders
Kassel/Hamburg/Copenhagen. The Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities has awarded Wintershall Dea with the operatorship for the Greenstore CO2 storage licence in Jutland. The company has developed an ambitious future work programme to establish the CO2 storage together with its partners INEOS Energy Denmark and Nordsøfonden.
Denmark is taking a lead position in establishing a carbon capture and storage industry in Europe. Wintershall Dea and the partnership will do its part in supporting Denmark in reducing domestic and European CO2 emissions.
“With this licence award, Denmark is taking another step towards building a new industry and contributing to reduce CO2 emissions both in Denmark and in Europe,” said Anne-Mette Cheese, Country Lead for Carbon Management and Hydrogen in Denmark. “We are grateful that the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities entrusted Wintershall Dea with the operatorship of the Greenstore onshore storage licence. The partners are looking forward to safely develop the storage site in close dialogue with local and national stakeholders.”
The Gassum area, north of the city Randers in Jutland, has been thoroughly examined by The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and is one of five areas onshore Denmark deemed suitable for storage of CO2.
“Our ambitious work program will further narrow uncertainties around storage capacity and the storage complex development planning, related injection rates and start up dates will be updated during course of the project" said Marius Brundiers, Project Manager for Wintershall Dea’s Danish onshore activities.
Given all required approvals by the authorities, the partnership foresees first injection in 2029. The storage capacity is initially estimated to up to 250 million tons of CO2 in two separate geological formations at between 2000 meters and 3000 meters depth below surface.
"Wintershall Dea sees Denmark with its progressive regulations and significant geological potential as a natural partner for developing a commercially viable carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry. Its proximity to major emitters in Germany provides a strong basis for establishing a sustainable new industry, creating jobs and opportunities in Denmark. This initiative is crucial for achieving Danish, as well as German climate goals and supporting Europe's broader environmental objectives," Anne-Mette Cheese said.
Wintershall Dea has decades of underground experience and a close connection to emitters in Europe, which gives the company a unique position in progressing a sustainable carbon capture and storage industry.
Already being partner in CO2 injection and storage in Norway since 2008 (Snøvhit) and the Greensand storage project in the Danish North Sea, active in Greenport Scandinavia in Hirtshals and being operating in the North Sea for decades, Wintershall Dea has long experience in assessing and developing large projects in a safe manner.
The company has also partnered up with Novo Nordisk Fonden and 17 other actors along the value chain in the Danish CCS industry to provide factual based information around CCS at the Danish webpage.
Partnership in Greenstore: Wintershall Dea (op) 40%, INEOS Energy Denmark 40%, and Nordsøfonden 20%.
Further information on Wintershall Dea's activities in the field of carbon management and hydrogen can be found here.
About Wintershall
Dea Wintershall Dea is a leading independent European 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 11 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, 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. And we develop carbon management and low carbon hydrogen projects to contribute to climate goals and secure energy supplies. 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. We endorsed the World Bank’s Initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’ and continue to support the initiative aimed at eliminating routine flaring in operated assets by 2030. In addition, we plan to support global decarbonisation efforts by building up a carbon management and hydrogen business to potentially abate 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 more than 2,000 people worldwide from almost 60 nations.
The shareholders of Wintershall Dea (BASF and LetterOne) and Harbour Energy plc (Harbour) signed a business combination agreement in December 2023 to transfer Wintershall Dea’s E&P business consisting of its producing and development assets as well as exploration rights in Norway, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Algeria, Libya (excluding Wintershall AG), Egypt and Denmark (excluding Ravn) as well as Wintershall Dea’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) licenses to Harbour. Until closing, Wintershall Dea and Harbour will continue to operate as independent companies. The transaction is, among other things, subject to approvals of merger control and foreign investment authorities in several countries. Subject to these regulatory approvals, closing is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2024. See the full BASF release here.
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