The Northern Lights consortium has begun operation of its first subsea reservoir, injecting initial volumes of carbon dioxide into a secure geological formation.
Northern Lights operations
The project materializes the first commercial transportation and carbon storage carbon storage and transport service cross-border transport and storage service. The joint venture formed by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell, Northern Lights, offers European industries a tangible solution for managing their emissions. This business model is essential for sectors where emissions reduction is particularly complex.
To illustrate, the process begins with the capture of CO₂ at the industrial facilities of customers such as the cement producer Heidelberg Materials. The gas is then liquefied and transported in specialized ships to the receiving terminal in Øygarden, Norway. From there, a 100-kilometer pipeline carries it to the Aurora field for injection and permanent storage 2,600 meters below the seabed.
Moreover, the current infrastructure allows for the storage of 1.5 million tons of CO₂ per year, but there are firm plans for expansion. Through an agreement with Stockholm Exergi and European funding, capacity will be expanded to at least 5 million tons per year. Companies such as Yara and Ørsted are joining this initiative, consolidating a continental collaboration network.
This operation is also part of “Longship“, the Norwegian government’s initiative to develop a complete carbon capture and storage value chain. The first Norwegian customers, such as the Hafslund Celsius energy recovery plant in Oslo, demonstrate the local commitment to this technology to achieve climate targets.
Source and photo: Northern Lights
