The Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project has begun operations with the first CO₂ volumes injected into a reservoir 2,600 meters beneath the seabed outside Bergen, according to Equinor's release.
The facility, located at Øygarden, is described as the world’s first third-party CO₂ transport and storage system and is intended to contribute to reducing European greenhouse gas emissions.
The transported CO₂ originates from Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Brevik and is shipped to the Øygarden terminal.
From there, it is transferred via a 100-kilometer pipeline into the Aurora reservoir under the North Sea.
“With CO₂ safely stored below the seabed, we mark a major milestone. This demonstrates the viability of carbon capture, transport and storage as a scalable industry,” said Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor. He noted that the development was made possible through cooperation with the Norwegian government and the project partners.
Northern Lights is a joint venture equally owned by Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies. Equinor, as Technical Service Provider, oversaw the construction of the Øygarden onshore plant and offshore facilities and will take on operational responsibility for the CO₂ plant.
The initial injection marks the completion of phase 1 of the project, with an annual storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂, which is already fully booked. In March, the joint venture partners made a final investment decision on phase 2, which is expected to raise the capacity to at least 5 million tonnes per year.
A contract with Stockholm Exergi to store up to 900,000 tonnes annually and a €131 million grant from the EU Connecting Europe Facility for Energy enabled the expansion.
Phase 2 includes new onshore storage tanks, a jetty, and additional injection wells. Equinor has taken delivery of nine CO₂ storage tanks at Øygarden during the summer.
The company has also stated its ambition to develop 30-50 million tonnes per year of CO₂ transport and storage capacity by 2035, through projects in Europe and the US.
Equinor ASA is a publicly listed Norwegian energy company headquartered in Stavanger, majority-owned by the Norwegian state. Its activities span oil, gas, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage projects worldwide.
Shell is a publicly traded multinational energy company incorporated in the United Kingdom. It engages in oil, gas, renewable energy and low-carbon solutions with operations in over 70 countries.
TotalEnergies SE is a publicly traded French energy company headquartered in Paris, active in oil, gas, renewables and electricity, and operating across more than 130 countries.