The Danish Energy Agency announced last week that 16 companies had applied for aid from the $4.1bn CCS fund. The fund, which will accommodate a maximum of 10 participants, is expected to help reduce Denmark’s annual CO₂ emissions by 2.3 million tonnes from 2030. This corresponds to around five percent of Denmark’s total current emissions in one year.

The applications will now be reviewed to determine whether they meet the prequalification conditions. The expectation is that those selected to submit bids and participate in future negotiation will be identified before the summer.

The deadline for submission of initial bids (INDO) is 26 August 2025, after which the Danish Energy Agency will enter into negotiations with the bidders. The deadline for submission of final and binding bids (BAFO) is expected to be 17 December 2025.

The fund was designed to maximise competition for aid to achieve the greatest possible CO₂ reductions at the lowest possible cost. Aid will be paid out per tonne of CO₂ stored. The tender process will be carried out as a negotiated procedure, with market players bidding a fixed amount per year and price per tonne of CO₂ they will capture and store.

The Danish Energy Agency expects to award contracts in April 2026. The implementation of the CCS fund is subject to state aid approval from the European Commission.

Says Peter Christian Baggesgaard Hansen, Deputy Director General at the Danish Energy Agency “We are very pleased with the great interest, and that so many players see opportunities in contributing to the green transition through carbon capture and storage. This shows that we are well on our way to establishing a market for CCS in Denmark. It is an important step to achieve Denmark’s climate goals. Now, it is our task at the Danish Energy Agency to continue the work so that the CCS fund can be converted into concrete CO₂ reductions.”

The CCS pool is the third fund administered by the Danish Energy Agency with state aid for CO₂ capture and storage. The first tender from the CCUS fund, which was worth approximately DKK 8 billion, was won by Ørsted, which will capture and store 430,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually from 2026 and 20 years ahead. Ørsted expects to capture and store CO₂ from 2025.

The tender from the NECCS fund was completed in May 2024, when the Danish Energy Agency contracted three companies to capture and store 160,350 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ annually from 2026 through 2032.

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