Europe begins storing carbon beneath the seabed – Northern Lights project launches

Norway has taken a major step in climate technology by launching the Northern Lights project, Europe's first commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The project is backed by Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.

The Northern Lights project has officially begun storing CO2 beneath the seabed. The ESGNews website reported the news. The three companies involved in the project describe it as a historic milestone for carbon capture projects (CCS and CCU).

The carbon dioxide for the first injection came from Heidelberg Materials' cement plant in Brevik, Norway. The gas was transported by ship to Øygarden and then stored 2,600 metres underground, 100 kilometres offshore, via a pipeline. The first phase of the project, which aims to store 1.5 million tonnes a year, is already fully booked by customers from Norway and Europe. Among the companies interested in storing the gas are Yara, Ørsted and Stockholm Exergi. The Northern Lights project aims primarily to serve sectors where emissions are difficult to reduce, such as cement, waste-to-energy and the chemical industry.

The initiative is a central part of the Longship programme, backed by the Norwegian government. Its aim is to demonstrate that CCS is a viable route to decarbonisation. Industry representatives have described the start of storage as a turning point for CCS in Europe and a shift from theory to practice. Arnaud Le Foll of TotalEnergies stressed that the project offers heavy industry “a credible and tangible way” to reduce emissions in a sector where other decarbonisation options are limited.

The Northern Lights partners have also confirmed an investment of NOK 7.5 billion (USD 744 million) for the project's second phase, which will increase annual storage capacity from 1.5 million to 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2028.

The expansion includes the construction of new onshore storage tanks, injection wells and a jetty, supported by a EUR 131 million grant from the European Commission's Connecting Europe Facility. A long-term agreement with Stockholm Exergi will ensure the storage of 900,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide a year for 15 years.

With several carbon dioxide storage project licences already under development on the Norwegian continental shelf, Equinor and its partners aim to make Norway a global hub for carbon storage. This is intended to pave the way for CCS to become a cornerstone of industrial decarbonisation worldwide.