Denmark - Environmental services - Tender for Contract on subsidy for carbon capture, transport and storage

THE CCS FUND With the agreement on a strengthened framework for CCS in Denmark (in Danish: “Aftale om styrkede rammevilkår for CCS i Danmark”) of 20 September 2023, a majority of the Danish Parliament decided to merge the second phase of the CCUS fund and the GSR fund into one combined fund, the “CCS Fund”. In June 2024, a political decision was made to deploy the CCS Fund through one single competitive bidding process. This call for tenders concerns the deployment of the CCS Fund. The purpose of the CCS Fund is to achieve CO2 emission reductions and/or negative emissions by Storing Fossil CO2 and/or Biogenic CO2 or Atmospheric CO2. The overarching aim of the CCS Fund is thus to contribute to the realization of Denmark's climate targets as outlined in the Danish Climate Act (in Dan-ish: “Klimaloven”). THE CONTRACT(S) The Danish Energy Agency (the DEA) wished to enter into one or more contract(s) pursuant to which the recipient(s) of the subsidies (each recipient “the Operator”) shall ensure and be responsible for achieving the CO2 emission reductions and/or negative CO2 emissions (“the Contract”). As described in the tender documents, the Operator shall each year from 2030 until (and including) 2044 capture and permanently, geologically store a fixed quantity of CO2 (“Annual Quantity”). The Operator may also offer to capture and Store CO2 from 1 January 2029 at the earliest until (and including) 31 December 2029 (“2029-Quantity”). The Operator may base their project on CO2 capture from one point source or direct air capture plant, a combination of point sources or direct air capture plants or a portfolio of several point sources or direct air capture plants. The Operator may be any economic operator or a group of operators willing to assume the responsibility for achieving the CO2 emission reductions and/or negative CO2 emissions in accordance with the Contract by performing the Contract by itself and/or by engaging Sub-Suppliers. The total maximum available subsidy of the CCS Fund is DKK 28,659,200,000.00 (2025-prices, including VAT and including potential derived tax losses (in Danish: “afledt afgiftstab”)) covering the period from (and including) 2029 to (and including) 2044. The CCS Fund shall cover potential derived tax losses that stem from the award of Contract(s) to tenderers who will avoid national CO2 related taxes by capturing and storing their CO2 emissions. As such, the total available annual funds depends on the composition of the final contract recipient(s). The total available annual funds for the period 2029-2044 can, at most, be DKK 1,791,200,000.00 (2025-prices, including VAT). The value stated in section 2.1.3 and 5.1.5 is the total available funds of the CCS Fund and thus including VAT and including potential derived tax losses. The Subsidy will be paid per tonne CO2 captured and stored in accordance with the Contract. The Offered Rate per tonne CO2 will be adjusted throughout the contract period as described in Appendix 5, Subsidy and economy scheme. The tender documents allowed for award of one or more Contract(s) dependent on the available funds based on the received offers. The Contract is not divided into predefined lots. The DEA considers that the funds are deployed most efficiently with Contract(s) covering the full Value Chain, in order to realize the required CO2 emission reductions and/or negative emissions, and by leaving the award of one or more Contracts to the market’s ability to capture and store different quantities of CO2 (with a minimum of 100,000 tonnes annually from 2030-2044) within the available funds. THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS The granting of subsidy under the CCS Fund constitutes State aid for climate and environ-mental protection and is prepared following the European Commission’s Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy 2022 (CEEAG). The designation of the Contract(s) as a services contract in this contract notice etc. does not change this. The competitive bidding process was conducted as a negotiated procedure in accordance with the rules and principles of section II of the Danish Public Procurement Act. The DEA notified the CCS Fund to the European Commission as an aid scheme in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Article 108 of Treaty on the Function of the European Union (TFEU), and has received the European Commission’s prior approval. The Contract has been subject to a prior publication of call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union, see contract notice no. 604064-2024, published 8 October 2024. During the tender procedure the DEA made changes and clarifications to the tender documents. The changes and clarifications are de-scribed in voluntary ex ante transparency notices no. 765513-2025, published 19 November 2025, and no. 309067-2026, published 6 May 2026, and the revised documents are also publicly available on the DEA’s website (see https://ens.dk/forsyning-og-forbrug/ccs-udbud-og-anden-stoette-til-udvikling-af-ccs), see the tab “Udbud af CCS-puljen”). The changes and clarifications encompass changes and clarifications to General Requirements. As stated in the voluntary ex ante transparency notices the DEA considers the changes and clarifications to be in accordance with the principles of the public procurement rules as the changes and clarifications are made within the confines of the tender material and do not include changes to Minimum Requirements or fundamental elements. The DEA chose to publish the voluntary ex ante transparency notices with the wish to promote transparency regarding the process and changes and clarifications made to the tender documents. This contract award notice concerns the result of the tender procedure and sets out that the DEA has entered into a Contract with Aalborg Portland A/S.