Europe’s first dedicated CO2 carrier currently under construction at Royal Niestern Sander shipyard in the Netherlands is planned to be christened and launched on 14 May. A partnership agreement between chemical giant INEOS and offshore vessel provider Wagenborg for delivery of the CO2 carrier was signed in November 2024.
The vessel is designed to transport liquefied CO2 from onshore capture sites to offshore storage in the Danish part of the North Sea. Once launched and operational, the carrier is expected to sail regular routes from Port Esbjerg to the Nini West platform, where the CO2 is to be injected for storage in the Nini reservoir approximately 1800 m beneath the seabed.
“The geology in the Danish part of the North Sea is very well suited for safe and permanent storage of CO2,” said Mads Gade, CEO of INEOS Energy Europe. “By fulfilling the potential for storage of CO2 deep below the subsurface in the Danish North Sea, we can make a significant contribution to achieving both Danish and European climate goals. The CO2 carrier will play a pivotal role for Greensand in establishing and developing the first operational CO2 storage facility in the EU aimed at mitigating climate change.”
The ship is tailored to the specific technical requirements of CO2 transport, including onboard cooling and pressure systems. With the completion of the ship’s hull, the vessel enters the next phase of construction, which includes retrofitting, commissioning, testing, and sea trials.
The milestone follows a series of major developments in the Greensand project. In December 2024, INEOS and its partners Harbour Energy and Nordsøfonden made the final investment decision to move ahead with full-scale CO2 storage operations in the Nini field.
With this plan to initiate permanent CO2 storage in the Nini field by late 2025 or early 2026, Greensand is expected to become the EU’s first operational CO2 storage facility. The dedicated carrier is central to fulfilling this ambition, enabling safe, efficient, and scalable transport of captured CO2 from across Europe to the Danish storage site.
“We are proud to reach this important milestone together with INEOS for the Project Greensand,” said Edwin de Vries, director of Wagenborg Offshore. “The vessel is the first of its kind made in the EU and shows how the maritime industry in the north of the Netherlands can contribute to the energy transition.”
The project’s initial phase targets the permanent storage of 400,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, with the potential to scale up to 8 million tonnes per year by 2030.
Separately, groundbreaking on the port that will be the shore base for the Greensand project occurred this week in Esjberg. The terminal will feature six large holding tanks, each capable of storing approximately 1,000 tonnes of liquefied CO2. The site will include the necessary infrastructure for offloading and shipping CO2.
Construction is expected to be completed this fall, at which point INEOS Energy will take over the operation on behalf of the Greensand consortium.
Greensand has secured liquefied CO2 from several Danish biogas plants. Once captured, the CO2 will be transported by truck to the terminal in Esbjerg, where it will be stored temporarily. The newbuild ship will be used to move the liquefied CO2 to the INEOS Nini platform in the Danish North Sea, where it will be injected via pipeline into subsurface reservoirs for permanent storage.
