The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) on Tuesday approved the injection and storage of up to 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in a former offshore Danish oil field in the North Sea, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Oil and gas companies INEOS E&P (UK) and Wintershall Dea (Norway) have been granted permission to use the former Nini West oil field, located in the southern North Sea off the coast of Denmark, for a four-month period "to test, develop, and demonstrate that CO2 can be stored."
The venture, known as Greensand Pilot Injection Project, is publicly funded to the tune of 197 million Danish kroner (27 million U.S. dollars) from Denmark's Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
Greensand is the first time permission has been granted for a carbon storage project in Denmark, and it is therefore "an important step in relation to developing the methods and technology for cost-effective and environmentally and safety-responsible carbon storage in the country," said Henrik Sulsbruck, Head of Office at the DEA.
The pilot phase will involve pumping CO2 into a sandstone reservoir 1,800 meters below sea level, where it will be naturally trapped and stored, DEA explained.