Northern Lights Project Marks First Commercial CO2 Transport and Storage in Norway

Shell's Northern Lights project has successfully transported and stored CO2 for the first time. The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 1.5Mt CO2/year, is fully booked. The second phase, expected to increase capacity to over 5Mt CO2/year from 2028, is set to begin construction. The project's partners include TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell, and marks a significant milestone in the development of commercial CO2 transport and storage.

Shell's Northern Lights project has successfully transported and stored CO2 for the first time, marking a significant milestone in the development of commercial CO2 transport and storage. The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 1.5 Mt CO2/year, is fully booked. The second phase, expected to increase capacity to over 5 Mt CO2/year from 2028, is set to begin construction. The project's partners include TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell.

The Northern Lights project, located in the Norwegian North Sea, is the world's first commercial CO2 transport and storage facility. The initial volumes were transported by vessel from Heidelberg Materials' cement factory in Brevik, Norway, to Northern Lights' facilities in Øygarden, and then injected 2,600 meters below the seabed into the storage facilities [1][2][3].

The project's successful injection marks a significant step forward in the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. It offers a credible and tangible way for hard-to-abate sectors to reduce CO2 emissions, contributing to the decarbonization of European industry. The project aims to deliver CO2 transport and storage as a service, enabling the mitigation of industrial emissions that cannot be avoided [1][2].

TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell, the partners in the Northern Lights project, have developed a strong customer base in Norway and continental Europe, with five industrial customers already signed up. The project is part of Longship, the Norwegian Government's full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which is covering approximately 80% of the cost for phase 1 [3].

The development of CO2 transport and storage services is a critical lever for reducing emissions in European industry. The first phase of the Northern Lights project has a storage capacity of 1.5 Mt CO2/year, which is fully booked, with plans for a second phase to increase capacity to over 5 Mt CO2/year from 2028 [1][2][3].

The successful start of operations for Northern Lights demonstrates the viability of carbon capture, transport, and storage as a scalable industry. The project's development is well underway, with the delivery of nine new CO2 storage tanks at the Øygarden site this summer. The project's expansion is enabled by a €131 million grant from the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF Energy) funding scheme, leveraging existing infrastructure and including additional onshore storage tanks, pumps, a new jetty, additional injection wells, and more CO2 transport ships [3].

The successful start of operations for Northern Lights marks a significant milestone in the development of commercial CO2 transport and storage. It demonstrates the potential of CCS technologies to play a crucial role in meeting ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets and climate control goals. The project's success is a testament to the collaborative efforts of TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell, as well as the supportive policies and funding from the Norwegian Government.

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/totalenergies-se-announces-first-co2-storage-in-northern-lights-ce7c50dbd08ff72d
[2] https://www.ainvest.com/news/northern-lights-co2-storage-project-begins-operations-2508/
[3] https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worlds-first-third-party-co2-storage-facility-begins-operating-as-first-injection-takes-place/