The EU's first commercial-scale carbon dioxide storage facility, the Greensand project, has started operations in the Danish North Sea, marking a breakthrough for European CCUS infrastructure.

Led by INEOS Group, the project injects captured CO2 into a depleted oil reservoir in the Nini West field, about 250 km off Denmark's west coast and 1,800 meters below the seabed, according to CCTV News.

In its first phase of commercial operation, Greensand is designed to store 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, sourced mainly from emissions at Danish biomethane plants.

The gas is liquefied, transported by road to a dedicated terminal at the Port of Esbjerg, then shipped across the sea to the storage platform by the Nordic Pioneer, the EU's first vessel dedicated to CO2 transport.

The ship completed certification by the end of 2025 and is among the world's first commercial vessels to receive DNV's Class CO2 Tanker notation.

European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen said Greensand not only validates the technical feasibility of cross-border carbon transport and geological storage but also builds the prototype of the first scalable regional carbon sink network.

Project plans show storage capacity will be raised in phases to 4-8 million tonnes per year before 2030, with potential to connect carbon sources from industrial clusters in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Mas Garde, head of INEOS Energy Europe, said more than 12 European industrial companies have signed letters of intent to connect to the Greensand storage chain by 2027.

With the full implementation of the second phase of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and tighter industrial allowance constraints from 2026, large-scale CCUS is accelerating from technology demonstration to commercial necessity.

Industry consensus is that Greensand's launch is a key physical pillar for Europe to meet its pledges of a 55% emissions cut by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.