Companies to evaluate CO2 storage on Danish North Sea licenses
TotalEnergies has been awarded two licenses to explore CO2 storage potential in the Danish North Sea, and will carry out evaluation and appraisal work to develop a project that could transport and store over 5 million tonnes/year (tpy) of CO2 through repurposed and new infrastructure.
The licenses, awarded by the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy, and Utilities, lie about 250 km off the west coast of Denmark and cover an area of 2,118 sq km. The acreage includes TotalEnergies-operated Harald gas fields, which are currently being assessed for CO2 storage opportunities, TotalEnergies said in a release Feb. 6.
“With the Northern Lights project under construction in Norway and projects under development in the Netherlands and the UK, the North Sea area will be the main contributor to our objective of 10 million tpy of CO2 storage by 2030,” said Arnaud Le Foll, senior vice-president, new business - carbon neutrality, TotalEnergies.
The awards were two of three granted by the Danish regulator. A consortium of INEOS and Wintershall Dea was also awarded a license. The applications were the only two received in the first round of licenses for CO2 storage in the Danish North Sea held in August 2022. Work programs include an exploration well and a seismic survey. State-owned Nordsøfonden is participating in all three licenses with 20%.
Together, the licenses project a storage of upwards of 13 million tpy of CO2 in the Danish underground from 2030, the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy, and Utilities said in a release Feb. 6.
License permissions are initially granted for up to 6 years. If a suitable CO2 storage location is found, the permit can be extended for up to 30 years for storage operations, Danish Energy Agency said in a separate release Feb. 6.
The conclusion of the tender marks the end of the first of an annual tender round for licenses for exploration of full-scale CO2 storage on the Danish continental shelf.
About the Author
Mikaila Adams
Managing Editor, Content Strategist
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was later named Managing Editor - News. Her role has expanded into content strategy. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.