Denmark awards first CO2 storage licences in the North Sea

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark has awarded its first licences to capture and store carbon in the North Sea to Wintershall Dea, INEOS Energy and TotalEnergies, the country's climate and energy ministry said on Monday.

Denmark has set a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions in 2045 and sees carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which removes CO2 emissions from the atmosphere and stores them underground, as key to reaching that target.

Efforts to promote the technology have gained steam across Europe over the past few years as industries and governments seek to reduce emissions to meet their climate goals.

The Greensand project led by INEOS and Wintershall is expected to start injecting up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 into depleted oil and gas fields in the North Sea by 2025, the ministry said.

The project plans to increase capacity to 8 million tonnes per year by 2030.

TotalEnergies' Bifrost project aims to inject up to 3 million tonnes into a depleted oil and gas field from 2027, reaching 5 million tonnes by 2030.

Total investments in the projects will reach 445 million Danish crowns ($64.4 million) and 157 million crowns respectively, with the Danish state investing just under half of that.

($1 = 6.9054 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Jan Harvey)