The Danish Energy Agency has picked three bidders to capture and store biogenic CO2, and agreed to pay about $24 million between them. All three met the tender. They did not meet it at the same price. One bidder will be paid well over twice as much per tonne as another, for a fraction of the volume, and the record leaves open how long the money is meant to last.
Key takeaways
- The Danish Energy Agency announced on 17 April 2024 grants of about $24 million to BioCirc, Bioman ApS and Carbon Capture Scotland to support three carbon capture and storage projects that capture and store biogenic CO2 in Denmark.
- BioCirc CO2 ApS will capture and store 130,700 tonnes of CO2 a year at a support level of about $137.87 (DKK 968.5) per tonne, with funding of $18 million.
- Bioman ApS will capture and store 25,000 tonnes of CO2 a year at about $159 (DKK 1,117.5) per tonne, with funding of $3.9 million.
- Carbon Capture Scotland Limited will capture and store 4,650 tonnes of CO2 a year at about $370 (DKK 2,600) per tonne, about 2.7 times BioCirc's rate, with funding of $1.7 million.
- The three Danish CCS projects are due to run from 2026 to 2032, and the support is paid only on proof that the captured CO2 has been permanently stored underground.
What is the Danish Energy Agency paying for?
It is paying for stored tonnes, not for equipment. Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, takes carbon dioxide from an industrial source and injects it into deep geological formations so it stays out of the atmosphere. These three projects capture biogenic CO2, meaning carbon that came from plants or organic waste rather than fossil fuel.
The payment design follows from that. The support is disbursed upon proof of permanent underground storage. A project that captures CO2 but cannot show it has been stored is not paid. That puts transport and storage risk on the bidder, not the state.
The agency says the three offers meet the tender requirements, and that it assesses all three companies can capture, transport and store CO2 to the extent they have committed. That is the agency's assessment at award, not a delivered result.
Why does one project cost 2.7 times as much per tonne?
Scale is the clearest difference in the record. BioCirc's project is about 28 times the size of Carbon Capture Scotland's by annual tonnage, and its support rate is the lowest of the three. Bioman sits between them on both measures.
The ranking runs in a straight line. The largest project, at 130,700 tonnes a year, receives about $137.87 per tonne. The middle one, at 25,000 tonnes, receives about $159. The smallest, at 4,650 tonnes, receives about $370. The record gives no cost breakdown, but the pattern fits economies of scale: fixed costs such as capture units, liquefaction and shipping to a storage site are spread over fewer tonnes in a small project.
Each project was priced in its own bid. A tender of this kind lets each bidder name the support it needs. The agency then decided all three were worth funding rather than taking only the cheapest.
How long does $24 million last?
This is the part the record leaves open. Each project's stated funding matches its annual tonnage multiplied by its support rate. BioCirc's 130,700 tonnes at about $137.87 comes to about $18 million. Bioman's 25,000 tonnes at about $159 comes to about $4 million. Carbon Capture Scotland's 4,650 tonnes at about $370 comes to about $1.7 million.
Yet the projects are due to run from 2026 to 2032. Read one way, the roughly $24 million is a single year's payment within a longer programme. Read another, the annual figures overstate what is stored in total. The record does not say which, so the post does not choose.
Across all three projects the combined volume is 160,350 tonnes a year. Divided into the total grant, that is an average of about $148 per tonne on Enerdatics' calculation, pulled close to BioCirc's rate because BioCirc supplies most of the tonnes.
Enerdatics records 6 carbon capture and storage financings in Europe announced since the start of 2023. The Danish award is the only government grant among them. Three are equity raises for capture technology companies, between $12.37 million and $21.5 million, and two are bank debt packages linked to Eni's CCS business in the UK, the larger at $3,325.95 million for the Liverpool Bay project. At $23.72 million the Danish grant is small against that debt, and it is the only one in the set paid per stored tonne.
How does that compare with US carbon capture support?
The United States pays through the tax code instead. Its Section 45Q credit pays a set amount per tonne, and a capture plant can sell those credits to a buyer with tax capacity. CapturePoint's sale of 12 years of 45Q credits from its Kansas plant shows the result: a fixed rate, set by statute, monetised through a private deal.
Denmark's model sets the rate per project through competition. That produces visible differences, such as the 2.7 times spread between the smallest and largest projects here, which a single statutory rate would hide.
What does the award signal for Danish CCS?
It signals that Denmark is willing to pay up for small projects to build a wider supply of stored tonnes. Funding all three bidders, including one at about $370 per tonne, suggests the agency values breadth of participants alongside price. The agency says the aim includes developing and maturing the CCS value chain in Denmark.
It also signals where the risk sits. Payment on proof of storage means bidders must secure transport and a storage site that works. In the United States, storage hubs are being assembled as separate businesses, as Equinor's purchase of a quarter of the Bayou Bend storage project shows. In Denmark's tender, each capture bidder carries that link itself.
The open question is duration. Until the payment term is clear, the per tonne rates are the reliable comparison, and the $24 million total is not.
Frequently asked questions
Who received the Danish Energy Agency's April 2024 CCS grants? BioCirc CO2 ApS, Bioman ApS and Carbon Capture Scotland Limited, sharing about $24 million to capture and store biogenic CO2 in Denmark.
What support rates did the three Danish CCS projects win? About $137.87 per tonne for BioCirc, about $159 for Bioman and about $370 for Carbon Capture Scotland.
When are the Danish CCS projects paid? Only on proof that the captured CO2 has been permanently stored underground. The projects are due to run from 2026 to 2032.
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