OSLO (Reuters) – Denmark has awarded the first three licenses to investigate large-scale storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations on land, the Danish Energy Agency said on Thursday.
In neighbouring Germany, onshore CO2 storage was banned last decade amid fears of gas leaks, but Danish authorities said the country’s subsoil was particularly suitable for CO2 storage that could help to limit global warming.
Licenses to explore onshore CO2 storage in Demark were awarded to three groups: one including Wintershall Dea and INEOS, another including CarbonCuts, a subsidiary of BlueNord, and a third including Equinor and Orsted.
Denmark’s state-owned fund Nordsofonden will have stakes in all three.
“Carbon storage is vital if we are to achieve our climate targets, and the Danish subsoil has the necessary qualities needed to store carbon safely and responsibly,” the agency said in a statement.
The first CO2 onshore licensing round received bids from a total of 10 companies, it added.
The agency said further studies by the license holders will be needed to make sure that CO2 storage is safe before permits to start storage are granted.
One potential storage site at Havnso is about 70 kilometres away from Danish capital, Copenhagen.
Denmark has previously awarded a few licenses for exploring CO2 storage in the Danish sector of the North Sea.
Germany said in February it planned to change its laws to allow carbon capture and off-shore storage for certain industrial sectors as Europe’s biggest economy aims to become carbon neutral by 2045. On-land carbon storage in Germany will, however, remain banned.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Bulli; Editing by Christina Fincher)
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