Greenport Scandivania CO2 hub in Denmark awarded €14.6 million in EU funding

• Greenport Scandinavia would be Northern Europe’s largest CO₂ hub with handling capacities of around 15 million tonnes
• Emissions from Germany are to be handled here from 2027
• "Just Transition Fund" supports projects to reduce CO₂ emissions and achieve climate targets

Greenport Scandinavia, a CO₂ hub in development at the Port of Hirtshals in Denmark, has been granted EUR 14.6 million (DKK 109 million) funding from the European Commission’s "Just Transition Fund". The project aims to establish a hub to collect CO₂ from industry in Denmark and other European countries, and ship it offshore for safe and permanent storage in the reservoirs in the North Sea. The funding will support the project and development of extensive value chains for CO₂ capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) in Europe. 

Greenport Scandinavia is one of the most ambitious CCUS projects in Northern Europe and the only Danish project proposed for EU funding under the 2023 "Just Transition Fund" call. It is being developed by a consortium consisting of INEOS Energy, Wintershall Dea, Evida, Port of Hirtshals, and other Danish partners.

Greenport Scandinavia is an important part of Wintershall Dea’s growing carbon management & hydrogen portfolio. The company is currently developing a growing network of CCS projects in Northern Europe, including the Greensand CCS project in Denmark, where together with INEOS Wintershall Dea successfully demonstrated the first full cross-border CCS value chain in Europe in March 2023. Greensand is also planned to be a location for storage of carbon dioxide transported from the Greenport Scandinavia CO₂ hub.

"Denmark is making the progress developing the CCS value chain that we urgently need to decarbonise Europe. As part of the Greenport Scandinavia consortium, Wintershall Dea is contributing three decades of extensive infrastructure expertise. We welcome this funding, which recognises the importance of the project and will help turn it into reality," said Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea. "To ensure that emissions from Germany can be processed at Hirtshals from 2027, we need a legal framework for cross-border CO₂ transport in Germany as soon as possible," he added.

The project aims to establish annual shipments of up to 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ from biogas plants in Northern Jutland starting from 2025/2026. From 2029, with the development of an initial Danish CO₂-pipeline infrastructure, the handling volume at the hub is expected to increase to around three million tonnes of CO₂ per year. Annual capacity would rise further to around 15 million tonnes when the hub is able to receive CO₂ from all of Northern Europe in the early 2030s.

Greenport Scandinavia was launched in December 2022 with the aim of supporting the European Commission’s 55 per cent greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030 and its 2050 climate neutrality target. The "Just Transition Fund" grant will make a significant contribution to the development of the CO₂ hub.

Greenport Scandinavia and Greensand will be two important foundation stones for CO₂ transport and storage in the Northern Europe. Experience gained here will go hand in hand with the development of a CO₂ hub at Wilhelmshaven on the German North Sea coast. There, Wintershall Dea and other partners are developing CO₂nnectNow, a planned collection and transport point for up to ten million tonnes of CO₂ per year. With its carbon capture and storage (CCS) and low-carbon hydrogen projects, Wintershall Dea aims to abate annually up to 30 million tonnes of CO₂ by 2040.