Final stretch before the kick-off of the “first commercial CO2 transport and storage service”2 “in the world”, Norway is inaugurating this Thursday the gateway to a vast underwater carbon dioxide cemetery.
The idea? To bury CO2 under the ocean floor, for a fee.2 captured at the exit of factory chimneys in Europe and thus reduce emissions into the atmosphere, which are harmful to the climate.
In the island municipality of Oygarden, a key piece of the puzzle has just been put into place: the land terminal that now stands on the shores of the North Sea, with its large, brand new tanks.
This is where the CO2previously liquefied, will be transported by boat, then injected, via a long pipeline, into a saline aquifer 2600 meters below the seabed.
Led by oil giants Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, the Northern Lights project is expected to bury its first tonnes of CO2 in 2025.
Its annual storage capacity will initially be 1.5 million tonnes, before being increased to 5 million tonnes, if demand follows.
“Our main objective is to demonstrate that the carbon capture and storage (CCS) chain is feasible,” Northern Lights director Tim Heijn told AFP.
“This can have a real impact on the CO balance2 and contribute to achieving climate goals,” he adds.
Several other underwater storage projects are progressing in Europe.
The Greensand project developed by Ineos and 23 partners off the coast of Denmark received the green light from the certification body DNV in September and plans to start in late 2025 or early 2026.
In Italy, the oil group Eni, allied with the gas transport group Snam, started a project off the coast of Ravenna at the beginning of September which will reach the industrial stage in 2027.
Cost deterrent
Complex and costly, the CCS solution is supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly to reduce the footprint of industries that are difficult to decarbonize, such as cement plants and steelmaking.
Total CO capture capacity2 Today, it only accounts for 50.5 million tonnes (Mt) worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. That is 0.1% of annual global emissions.
To limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, CCS would have to prevent at least 1 billion tonnes of CO emissions.2 per year by 2030, the IEA estimates.
The development of this technology, which is still in its infancy, is hampered by its prohibitive cost compared, for example, to the purchase by manufacturers of CO emission quotas.2and depends largely on subsidies.
“Public support has been and will remain crucial in helping such innovative projects move forward, particularly as the costs of CCS remain higher than the costs of CO emissions2 in Europe,” notes Daniela Peta, public relations officer at the think tank Global CCS Institute.
In the case of Northern Lights, the Norwegian state covered 80% of the costs, the amount of which remains confidential.
With its depleted hydrocarbon deposits, which could become storage sites, and its vast network of gas pipelines, the North Sea is a region conducive to the burial of CO.2.
Suspicions of “greenwashing”
Northern Lights is part of a more ambitious project called “Longship” – named after the Viking ships – with a total estimated cost of 30 billion crowns (2.6 billion euros), of which 20 billion will be paid by the state.
This also initially provided for the installation of CO capture devices.2 at two sites in Norway.
If Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik is to ship its CO2 Next year, cost overruns have forced a review of plans for the Hafslund Celsio waste treatment plant in Oslo.
Beyond the initial launch partners, Northern Lights has also entered into initial cross-border commercial agreements with fertilizer producer Yara and energy group Ørsted to bury CO2 from an ammonia plant in the Netherlands and two biomass power plants in Denmark.
Environmentalists worry that such technology could be used as a means to prolong the exploitation of fossil fuels, divert valuable investments from renewable energy, or pose risks of leakage.
“Northern Lights is greenwashing,” said Greenpeace Norway chief Frode Pleym, pointing out that the project was being driven by oil companies.
“Their goal is to be able to continue pumping oil and gas. CCS, electrification of platforms and measures like that are being used cynically by the oil industry to avoid doing anything with their huge emissions.”