June 21, 2024 [Storage Terminals Magazine]- Equinor has been awarded its inaugural carbon capture and storage exploration permit in Denmark, in collaboration with partners Orsted and Nordsofonden. The partnership aims to evaluate the feasibility of developing the onshore licence in North West Zealand into a secure CO2 storage facility.
The project, named CO2 Storage Kalundborg, includes a reservoir located approximately 1,400 metres below ground, with a potential capacity to store up to 12 million tonnes of CO2 annually. If the development is successful and gains approval from Danish authorities, CO2 storage could commence by the end of this decade.
“We are delighted to receive this exploration permit together with Orsted and Nordsofonden. Developing large-scale CO2 solutions is critical for hard-to-abate industries to reduce emissions while maintaining industrial activity and value creation. Our first important task in the project is to ensure that environmental requirements are met before seismic and subsurface data collection can start. The exploration phase will last several years, before the Danish authorities approve the licence area as suitable for safe and permanent CO2 storage,” said Grete Tveit, senior vice president for low carbon solutions at Equinor.
Equinor holds a 60 percent share in the awarded exploration licence, with Orsted and the Danish state, through Nordsofonden, each holding 20 percent stakes. Equinor anticipates a 4-8 percent real base project return for its early-phase CO2 storage business, with additional value potential as commercial markets develop.
“We will use our experience from safely storing CO2 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for nearly 30 years and other CCS developments when exploring the permit in Denmark. To mature more CO2 storage capacity aligns with our ambition of having 30 to 50 million tonnes of CO2 transport and storage capacity per year by 2035. A CO2 storage facility near Orsted’s existing infrastructure is a good fit, as we are combining our strong capabilities as industry partners to establish a complete end-to-end CO2 capture, transport, and storage value chain,” added Tveit.
The licence is situated near Orsted’s established shipping and storage terminal, Orsted Kalundborg CO2 hub. Orsted is constructing a CO2 capture facility at the Asnaes Power Plant, which is expected to become operational in early 2026. This facility will export CO2 by ship to the Northern Lights storage facility in Norway. Orsted’s terminal will play a key role in receiving and transporting CO2 to the potential storage site.
“We are pleased that we, along with Equinor and Nordsofonden, have been awarded a licence to explore whether the area in the municipality of Kalundborg is suitable for carbon storage. From 2026, we will capture 430,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 from two of our combined heat and power plants, and being part of this collaboration is a natural next step in building our Orsted Kalundborg CO2 Hub, as we are already establishing the logistics, infrastructure, and terminal solutions necessary for handling CO2 at Kalundborg. In this way, we are a good partner to Equinor, who will be operating the CO2 storage site,” said Ole Thomsen, senior vice president and head of Orsted’s Bioenergy business.
The partnership is poised to contribute significantly to Denmark’s CO2 reduction goals while ensuring safe and effective carbon storage solutions.
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