INEOS Energy has opened the European Union’s first full-scale offshore carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage facility in Denmark, marking a significant step towards commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) across Europe.

The Greensand project, led by INEOS Energy in partnership with Harbour Energy and the Danish North Sea Fund (Nordsøfonden), has entered commercial operation following its official opening by Denmark’s King Frederik X at the Port of Esbjerg.

The facility is designed to provide European industries with infrastructure to transport and permanently store CO₂, offering a way to reduce emissions while maintaining industrial production and employment.

Greensand can store up to 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually during its initial commercial phase. Its capacity could eventually increase to between 4 million and 8 million tonnes a year, depending on demand and future expansion.

The project will initially source CO₂ primarily from Danish biomethane plants, allowing the entire carbon capture and storage chain to operate while industrial carbon capture projects continue to develop.

Captured CO₂ is liquefied and transported by truck to a dedicated terminal at the Port of Esbjerg. It is then shipped aboard Carbon Destroyer 1, described by INEOS as the European Union’s first purpose-built CO₂ carrier, before being injected into the Nini West reservoir, a depleted oil field approximately 250 kilometres offshore and 1,800 metres beneath the seabed.

The launch comes as European governments and industries face mounting pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions while protecting the continent’s industrial competitiveness.

INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe said Europe would need practical solutions to achieve net zero without forcing factories to close or jobs to move overseas. He described Greensand as an operational carbon transport and storage business rather than a pilot project, arguing that the technology was ready to support wider deployment across Europe.

David Bucknall, chief executive of INEOS Energy, said the facility marked a shift from plans and targets towards operational carbon storage infrastructure, providing a foundation for future carbon capture projects across the continent.

Mads Gade, chief executive of INEOS Energy Europe, said the project would initially focus on biogenic CO₂ but was designed to accommodate emissions from industrial sources as capacity expanded. He added that the facility could help establish a European market for permanent carbon storage.

European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen described the opening as an important milestone, demonstrating that offshore carbon storage could move beyond the demonstration stage and become a practical tool for industrial decarbonisation.

The development comes as the EU seeks to expand its carbon capture and storage infrastructure substantially. The bloc has set an ambition to reach annual CO₂ injection capacity of 50 million tonnes by 2030, increasing to between 250 million and 280 million tonnes by 2040.

Europe’s energy-intensive industries employ almost 8 million people and generate approximately €550 billion in