The Danish Energy Agency has postponed the second tender round for offshore licenses for the exploration and use of the subsoil for the geological storage of CO2 in the North Sea.
The tender was set to open on August 15th 2023 according to the executive order on CO2 storage license tenders.
The first tender round of offshore licenses for exploration and use of the subsoil for the geological storage of CO2 in the North Sea was initiated according to the executive order on CO2 storage license tenders, according to which license applications are received annually on August 15th with a deadline for applications on October 1st in the same year. The result of the first tender round was that three licenses were awarded.
"In line with the Agreement on the framework for CO2 storage in Denmark of 21 June 2022 (Follow-up on the CCS strategy in Denmark) the parties of the agreement were to decide, whether the state participation share of future licenses should be set higher after the first tender round in the North Sea. As a result, the second tender round of offshore licenses is postponed, until this matter has been settled," the Danish Energy Agency said.
The Danish Energy Agency expects that a new starting date for the tender round will be set later in 2023.
"Before the second tender round can be initiated, a clarification must be reached, regarding whether the state participation share in future licenses should be higher. It is the tender for offshore licenses in the Danish part of the North Sea that is postponed. The postponement does not affect current licenses or the upcoming onshore tender round. The Danish Energy Agency will keep the industry actors updated on the status of the tender," the Danish Energy Agency said.
Project Greensand
In March 2023, Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik inaugurated what has been described as "a world first" with the injection of carbon dioxide into a depleted oil field in the Danish North Sea as part of Project Greensand.
The CO2 was captured at an INEOS Oxide site in Belgium, transported to the Danish North Sea, and then stored in the INEOS-operated Nini field in the Danish North Sea.
By 2030, Project Greensand aims to store up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year in this area.
The European Commission estimates that the EU will need to store up to 300 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2050 to meet its climate goals.