Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies have made an FID to advance phase two of Norway’s Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project, the Norwegian company said on Thursday.
The decision follows a commercial agreement with Stockholm Exergi to transport and store 900,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually for 15 years.
“This is a major step in the further development of a large-scale carbon capture, transportation and storage value chain. The support from the Norwegian Government and European Commission has been important contributing factors to successfully completing phase 1 and advancing phase 2. That we are now able to progress the Northern Lights’ project second phase on a commercial basis demonstrates the value of public-private partnerships to reduce risk and attract customers,” Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said.
The investment by the Northern Lights JV partners is NOK 7.5 billion, or USD 710 million. This includes EUR 131 million from the Connecting Europe Facility funding scheme approved by the European Commission last year.
Phase two will increase the total injection capacity from 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year to at least 5 million tonnes per year. The expansion will utilise existing onshore and offshore infrastructure and includes additional onshore storage tanks, a new jetty and additional injection wells. This phase is scheduled for completion and operational readiness in the second half of 2028. Equinor will continue as technical service provider for phase two, managing development, construction and operation on behalf of the partnership.
The first phase of the Northern Lights project aimed to demonstrate feasibility of a new business model, solutions and operations through collaboration among authorities, customers and project partners. With strong support from the Norwegian government’s Longship initiative, phase one is fully booked. Northern Lights is prepared to receive CO2 from emitters, providing a secure and permanent storage solution for CO2.
“I am very pleased that the partners in Northern Lights have progressed to the second phase of the Northern Lights project. As the recently published European Clean Industrial Deal makes clear, large-scale carbon capture, transport and storage will be crucial in the energy transition as it offers a solution for hard-to-abate industrial emitters to decarbonise their processes,” Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice-president for marketing, midstream and processing in Equinor said.
Phase one operations are scheduled to begin this summer, with CO2 from Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Brevik expected to arrive at the receiving terminal near Kollsnes on Norway’s west coast. Additionally, Northern Lights will store CO2 from the Hafslund Celsio waste-to-energy plant in Oslo as part of the Longship project.
Equinor is one of the largest CCS developers worldwide, with plans to expand storage licences both on the Norwegian continental shelf and internationally with expected nominal equity return as previously communicated. The company is advancing multiple CCS projects in Europe and the US, requiring continued collaboration between governments, industry, customers and regulators to enable large-scale CCS solutions.