Carbon Dioxide, captured by INEOS from its plant at the Zwijndrecht site can now be shipped via the port of Antwerp to INEOS’ Nini West oil platform, 200 kms off the West Coast of Denmark, where it will be injected as a liquid, into the former oil field below the seabed surface. ​ 

This has become possible following a ground-breaking agreement announced on 3 October between Denmark and Belgium enabling captured CO2 to be shipped across their boarders and permanently stored in a sandstone reservoir 1800 metres beneath the seabed of the Danish North Sea. The agreement allows Project Greensand to move forwards with Europe’s first ever trial of the entire supply chain for carbon capture and storage to be carried out later this year.

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgian Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the North Sea, Flemish Minister forThe Environment and Energy Zuhal Demir and the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Energy Supply in Denmark, Mr. Dan Jørgensen signed the agreement.

There is currently no captured CO2 in Denmark that is suitable for storage in connection with the demonstration phase of Greensand. But with the new agreement, it will be possible to transport captured CO2 from INEOS in Belgium to Project Greensand's storage locations in the North Sea.

Project Greensand is one of the frontrunners of CO2 storage projects in Europe. It brings together a consortium of 23 specialised companies, research centres, institutions and logistics partners led by INEOS and Wintershall Dea, with an ambition to eventually store up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.

Roel De Vil, site manager INEOS Oxide in Zwijndrecht, said:

"INEOS Oxide has built on extensive experience in capturing CO2 emissions from its ethylene oxide process. ​ ​ Over the past 12 years, we have worked in collaboration with two other industrial partners to capture, purify and liquefy CO2 on the site. Thanks to our expertise, we can supply CO2 that can be used for the pilot project. 

“In addition to our role in the Greensand consortium, INEOS will also be the first Belgian company to store CO2in the Danish North Sea under the agreement. The project will play a pioneering role in the refinement of carbon storage technology and will make an important contribution to the achievement of the Danish, European and Belgian climate objectives." 

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of Antwerp Brugge:

"Seeing is believing. This project will demonstrate very tangibly that the storage of CO2under the North Sea is technically possible and can also be carried out safely. 

“I am delighted to work together with INEOS as part of the Greensand project, carrying out this pilot from the port of Antwerp as a first mover, giving us a front row seat to support it. CCS ('carbon capture and storage') is therefore an indispensable intermediate step in our transformation to a sustainable port."