Wintershall Dea wins first CCS license in UK North Sea

(WO) – Wintershall Dea is intensifying its carbon capture and storage (CCS) activities in the Southern North Sea. The company has been awarded a new license by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) to store CO2 under the seabed. The Camelot license’s annual storage potential is up to 6 million tonnes and provides a significant and valuable contribution to the CO2 abatement potential in the UK.

The license is for the Camelot area, which is a combination of depleted gas fields and an overlying saline aquifer. Wintershall Dea will hold a 50% interest together with Synergia Energy, who will be project operator in the appraisal phase. 

The work program will be developed and managed by Wintershall Dea Carbon Management Solutions UK. The entity was established in August 2022 to assess and implement carbon management projects in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Wintershall Dea views the award as an important steppingstone to access the UK’s CCS industry, and to develop Northwest Europe as a key region for carbon management technologies in the company’s portfolio.

"Wintershall Dea is among the leading CCS players in the North Sea with a total of four licenses in three North Sea countries. With the Camelot project, we are once again reaffirming our intention to develop CO2 storage sites in the North Sea to deliver solutions to tackle climate change and decarbonize industries”, said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea's Chief Technology Officer, and member of the Executive Board.

Wintershall Dea has been an active player in the UK North Sea for many years and is thus very familiar with the subsurface in the area. “With the extensive subsurface and operational expertise that we have gained over time, Wintershall Dea is well-equipped to contribute to developing these reservoirs to store CO2 potentially starting from 2030. This is a great success in this highly competitive environment”, said Matthias Pfeiffer, Country Lead CCS & Hydrogen UK at Wintershall Dea.

The British government has defined CCS as one of the main pillars to mitigate climate change and decarbonize the energy system as well as heavy and energy intensive industries. The NSTA announced that it would award over 100 licenses on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the next few years to fully exploit the offshore storage potential.