There are various ways to store CO2 in deep geological formations. For the Netherlands it is decided to focus on storage in depleted oil- and gas fields where at this stage only offshore possibilities are taken into account. The total storage capacity for the offshore oil- and gas fields is limited. Therefore there is still much research to the possibilities of CO2 storage in aquifers.
The total theoretical storage capacity in Dutch gas fields lies around 1.6 Gigatons spread over 150 fields. The effective capacity (minus unsuitable fields) of all offshore fields is around 900 Megatons. To put this into perspective, a coal-fired power plant produces between 4-6 Megatons of CO2 per year. Research conducted to establish the total storage capacities in the Netherlands can be found in the following reports:
- Potential for CO2 storage in depleted gas fields on the Dutch Continental Shelf, Phase 1: Technical assessment.
- Potential for CO2 storage in depleted gas fields on the Netherlands Continental Shelf Phase 2: Costs of transport and storage
- Independent assessment of high-capacity offshore CO2 storage options