Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Equinor, Shell, and Total have decided to invest in the Northern Lights project in Norway’s first exploitation license for CO₂ storage on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Plans for development and operation have been handed over to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
The investment decision is subject to final investment decision by Norwegian authorities and approval from the EFTA Surveillance Authority.
The investment decision concludes the study phase during which the partners worked closely with Norwegian authorities to conduct engineering studies and project planning, drill a confirmation well, and develop the necessary agreements. The partners intend to establish a joint venture company.
Initial investments are estimated at NOK 6.9 billion ($673 million), with about 57% of the investment going to Norwegian contractors.
The project will be developed in phases. Phase 1 includes capacity to transport, inject, and store up to 1.5 MM metric tons of CO2 per year. Once the CO2 is captured onshore, it will be transported by ships, injected and permanently stored some 2,500 m (8,202 ft) below the seabed in the North Sea.
The CO2 receiving terminal will be at the premises of Naturgassparken industrial area in the municipality of Øygarden in western Norway. The plant will be remotely operated from Equinor’s facilities at the Sture terminal in Øygarden and the subsea facilities from Oseberg A platform in the North Sea.
The facility will allow for further phases to expand capacity. Investments in subsequent phases will be triggered by market demand from large CO2 emitters across Europe, Equinor said.
If the project receives a positive final investment decision from the Norwegian government in 2020, Phase 1 is expected to be operational in 2024.
Equinor, on behalf of the partners, has signed non-binding memoranda of understanding with several European companies for the development of value chains in carbon capture and storage. Binding commercial agreements will depend on positive investment decisions from Norwegian authorities and for individual third-party projects.
This cross-industry collaboration is a unique solution and enables handling of large CO2 volumes that would otherwise have been emitted, Equinor claimed. This new value chain and infrastructure for carbon capture and storage projects can only be developed with cooperation between governments and companies.
Anders Opedal, executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling at Equinor, said: “The Northern Lights project could become the first step to develop a value chain for carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is vital to reach the global climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Development of CCS projects will also represent new activities and industrial opportunities for Norwegian and European industries.”
He added: “This unique project opens for decarbonization of industries with limited opportunities for CO2-reductions. It can be the first CO2 storage for Norwegian and European industries, and can support goals to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.”
05/15/2020
