A carbon capture storage (CCS) project powered by TotalEnergies, Shell and Equinor is underway in Norway. The project, Northern Lights, is said to be Norway’s first license for CO2 storage on the Norwegian Continental shelf, according to an announcement on the Equinor website. The project is also reportedly part of the Longship initiative.
The government of Norway approved the project in 2020 and later classified it as a Project of Common Interest by the European Union (EU). The project aims to transport and store CO2 in “geological layers buried at approximately 2,600 meters below the seabed in Northern North Sea”, according to the TotalEnergies announcement.
According to Equinor’s announcement, the Northern Lights project will be located on the Norway coast and begin operations in 2024. TotalEnergies, in the announcement, said that the project will begin its Phase 1 installations in 2024, and aims to develop a carbon capture storage facility with a capacity of 1.5 million annually.
The project has additional provisions if industry interest in CCS services increases. If a surge in demand is recorded, transportation and storage of CO2 emissions will be increased to 5 million tonnes per year.
The project has already secured a commercial agreement with Yara International regarding transporting and storing CO2 emissions across borders. This agreement marks a significant achievement in the decarbonisation efforts of industries in Europe.
According to TotalEnergies’ announcement, 800,000 metric tons of CO2 will be handled each year in the deal with Yara’s Netherlands division. The emissions will be captured and processed in the Netherlands. After processing, the emissions will be transported to the Northern Lights facility for permanent storage under the Norwegian North Sea.
