TotalEnergies, Mitsui, Nordsøfonden Get CO2 Storage Permit in North Sea

The Inez area in the North Sea (Credit: Danish Energy Agency)

The Danish Energy Agency has issued a permit for exploration and potential storage of CO2 in the North Sea off Denmark to consortium comprising TotalEnergies, Mitsui and state-owned Nordsøfonden.

The agency awarded the six-year exploration permit following a tender round covering three designated areas off the coast of northern Jutland. The permit applies to the nearshore Inez area, located about 50 kilometers from the coast near Thyborøn.

With the latest award, Denmark has now issued eight permits for CO2 storage exploration, evenly divided between four offshore and four onshore areas.

Under the permit, the consortium is required to carry out subsurface investigations to determine whether the area is suitable for safe and environmentally responsible CO2 storage. If the results are positive, the consortium will have the right to proceed to a full-scale storage project.

“Denmark’s subsurface is particularly well suited for the safe and responsible storage of CO2, and with this new permit there are now eight areas in Denmark where work is underway to potentially establish concrete storage projects.

“Improved access to storage across different parts of Denmark provides better conditions for realizing carbon capture and thereby delivering tangible emissions reductions for the benefit of the climate,” said Peter Christian Baggesgaard Hansen, deputy director at the Danish Energy Agency.

The award follows the Danish Energy Agency’s approval in December of Denmark’s first full-scale CO2 storage facility at the Nini West field, located about 240 kilometers northwest of Esbjerg.